Ring Of Honor
Date: February 16, 2022

We’re still on the Hall of Fame shows and that means we should be in for a fun week. Last week’s show was pretty awesome and this time around we have another big one with Bryan Danielson. He was absolutely a star in Ring of Honor and was a big part of why the company got on the map. Opening the vault is always fun so let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

We open with Danielson’s Hall of Fame video, including talking about how his talent and amazing matches helped develop the company’s reputation. Then he moved on to WWE and AEW and kept doing the same thing.

From Glory By Honor V (September 16, 2006).

Ring Of Honor World Title: Kenta vs. Bryan Danielson

Danielson is defending has a horrible shoulder coming in. Kenta threatens him with the big kick to start and backs Danielson up against the ropes. That means a slap to the face and things are getting a bit more serious. They go to a test of strength until Danielson grabs the arm, setting up a knee to the face. Kenta goes right back to the shoulder though and Danielson needs a breather on the floor.

Back in and Danielson rocks him with a headbutt, earning himself a kick to the arm. A headlock takeover works a bit better for Danielson, whose shoulder is looking black and blue. Danielson rips at the face as we hear about how awesome his title reign has been. A wristlock doesn’t get Kenta very far as Danielson dropkicks him to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Kenta hitting a running dropkick and kicking away, setting up a springboard missile dropkick for two. Kenta grabs a short armscissors, sending Danielson over to the ropes in a hurry. Danielson is right back with a half crab and a whip into the corner, setting up a Chris Benoit throat slit (dang that was jarring to see). The superplex sets up a crossface chickenwing to keep Kenta in trouble but a foot in the ropes is good for the break. The Swan Dive only hits Kenta’s raised boots though and it’s time to slug it out. They trade suplexes and then trade discus strikes to the face for another double knockdown.

We take another break and come back again with Kenta pulling him into a Fujiwara armbar, sending Danielson right back to the ropes. Danielson goes up onto said ropes but dives into a cutter, meaning the Fujiwara armbar goes right back on. That’s broken up again and Danielson grabs a fisherman’s belly to back suplex for two.

A belly to back superplex drops Kenta again and Cattle Mutilation goes on, meaning Kenta makes the ropes AGAIN. Danielson goes up top but dives into a fireman’s carry, setting up the (original) GTS for a VERY close two as the ropes save the title again. A bridging O’Connor roll gives Danielson another crazy near fall but Kenta kicks him down.

Danielson takes him down and drives away with the elbows to the head, only to have Kenta power up for the fireman’s carry. That’s broken up as well though and it’s a tiger suplex for two on Kenta. Cattle Mutilation goes on again and, after some more elbows to the head, the hold goes on again and Kenta FINALLY taps at 27:43.

Rating: A. Oh yeah this worked and it was an awesome fight with both guys beating the tar out of each other. Danielson can do this with anyone and it was a time when Kenta got to look as good as he is often hyped up as being. I haven’t seen nearly enough of Danielson’s time in Ring of Honor but it is easy to see where he gets the reputation that he has. Awesome match here and I loved the heck out of this.

We look at Danielson beating James Gibson (Jamie Noble) to win the World Title at Glory By Honor IV.

From Unified (August 12, 2006) and this is a pretty famous one.

Ring Of Honor World Title/Pure Title: Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness

This is to unify the titles and under Pure Rules with a winner guaranteed. They take turns backing each other up against the ropes with Danielson slapping him in the face. Nigel armdrags him down and gets in his own slap, with the London fans saying Danielson got b**** slapped. They fight over wrist control as we hear about both of their dominant title reigns.

A dropkick puts McGuinness down but he kicks at the leg to get a breather. The grappling is on again with Danielson driving him into the corner before kicking him down. It’s time for Danielson to start in on the arm, including some hard cranking on the mat. Back up and a running dropkick puts Nigel down and we take a break.

We come back with Danielson uppercutting away in the corner before grabbing a cross armbreaker. That’s broken up with the rope break before Nigel hits a clothesline out of the corner. A Regal Cutter (or close to it) gives Nigel two and there’s a running uppercut in the corner for the same. An arm trap chinlock goes on to keep Danielson in trouble but he gets up and scores with an enziguri. The surfboard double knee stomp has Nigel in more trouble and it’s a superplex into a Swan Dive for two. Cattle Mutilation goes on but Nigel is in the ropes in a hurry, meaning it’s rope break #2 (I’m guessing that first one was in the break).

We take another break and come back Nigel putting him down, making Danielson use his first rope break. Nigel grabs his own Cattle Mutilation and Danielson burns through another break in a hurry. They head outside with Danielson putting a table onto him for some choking. Back in and Nigel blasts him with a clothesline. Danielson is fine enough to grab the crossface chickenwing so Nigel uses his final rope break.

Nigel gets tossed with a German suplex but still manages to get his feet up to block the Swan Dive. A strike off goes to Danielson but Nigel puts him on the top for a hard clothesline. That means Danielson has to use his final break and we take another break of our own.

Back again with Nigel busted open as they trade some HARD headbutts (no hands protecting them either). A big headbutt sends Nigel into the ropes but he comes out with a hard lariat. Nigel gets a delayed cover but Bryan rolls over into Cattle Mutilation. The ropes can’t save him this time so Nigel has to spin out. With nothing else working, Danielson ties the arms up and unloads with elbows to the head to knock Nigel out and unify the titles (So THAT’S where the name came from!) at 32:41.

Rating: A-. This was a hard one to watch, partially just due to the head trauma. I’m not bit on seeing Danielson (or anyone for that matter) using their head like that, but dang they beat the fire out of each other. The good thing is that the technical work was awesome and then it got serious when they were beating on each other like everything was on the line (because it was). Awesome match, but it is a bit hard to watch.

One more Danielson video wraps us up.

Overall Rating: A+. I know it’s easy to focus on the best matches when you’re doing a show like this but dang this was fun. Danielson has more classics than should be legally allowed and this was an awesome look at two of them. Much like last week, I could go for a much longer look at Danielson and that’s how this should be. It’s almost like those ads for Honor Club throughout the show was a good idea. Check this, plus more Danielson, out because it’s outstanding stuff.

 

 

 

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205 Live
Date: April 9, 2021
Host: Nigel McGuinness

It’s Wrestlemania weekend and since this show means all of absolutely nothing in WWE, this is a best of show. That might be the best thing that can be done for the cruiserweights, as it isn’t like anyone is paying attention to this show this weekend. Hopefully we get some of the actual greatest hits as there are a lot to pick from. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Nigel McGuinness welcomes us to the show and sends us to our first match.

From the Wrestlemania XXXIV Kickoff Show.

Cruiserweight Title: Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali

Tournament final to crown a new champion after Enzo Amore was finally banished. Ali debuts his SubZero look, which he still uses a year later. They’re both very happy to be there and slaps hands before getting started. Cedric scores with a shoulder block but gets headscissored down as the announcers are right there to play up the power vs. speed idea, though you don’t exactly think of power when it comes to Alexander.

Ali heads to the apron and gets enziguried down, setting up the big flip dive to the floor and…actually not a break. Back in and Cedric starts in on the ribs with a waistlock, followed by a heck of a backdrop for two. Ali gets out of another waistlock and faceplants him for two as Alexander looks focused while being in pain. The running Spanish Fly drops Ali again and it takes both of them time to get up. They’re doing a rather good job of showing how even these two are, which is what you should be doing in a tournament final.

Ali is up first and tries a tornado DDT but gets placed on top, where Ali catches him with a super Spanish Fly, shocking even Cena. The 054 is loaded up but Cedric knocks him off the top for a huge crash to the floor. That’s not serious so let’s go split screen for a Ronda Rousey ad. I mean…fair enough. Back in the Lumbar Check is countered, setting up Ali’s awesome tornado DDT.

Now the 054 connects for two, the first time the move has ever only gotten a near fall. Another 054 misses and it’s a pair of spinning back elbows to Ali’s face. A third turns Ali inside out and the Lumbar Check makes Cedric champion at 12:21. Cedric immediately hugs the unconscious Ali in a nice show of sportsmanship.

Rating: B. I was pulling for Ali but it felt like a title match between two guys fighting with everything they had. Cedric was the favorite in the entire tournament but Ali came off looking like a star the whole way through. This was rather good stuff and should have been the Kickoff Show main event, though I’ll take a good match when I can.

From Wrestlemania XXXV, again on the Kickoff Show.

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese

Murphy is defending and this is during Nese’s (who won a tournament to get here) not so great face run. First good thing: there are a bunch of people in their seats already so the place doesn’t look ridiculous. Murphy misses a running knee at the bell so Nese hammers away in the corner and tells the fans that this is his Wrestlemania moment. A cartwheel off the apron lets Nese hit him in the jaw but Murphy grabs a fireman’s carry drop onto the corner (Colt Cabana’s Chicago Skyline) as we take a break.

Back with Murphy holding a chinlock but getting suplexed into the corner to cut things off. Some running elbows to the face rock Murphy and the Lionsault, with Murphy hanging in the ropes, gets two. Nese catches him on the ropes with a palm strike, only to get pulled into a Cheeky Nandos kick. A powerbomb into a spinning faceplant gives Murphy two as we get the “still filing in line” from commentary. Murphy’s Law is countered and Nese hits a reverse hurricanrana to put them both down again.

Murphy wins a strike off but Nese is right back with a sunset driver for his own near fall as the fans are finally getting into this. The running Nese doesn’t get to launch so Nese hits the Fosbury Flop instead. Back in and the 450 gets two in a surprising near fall. The jumping knee connects out of nowhere and Murphy’s Law gets two as Nese gets a foot on the rope. Ever the villain, Murphy tries his own running Nese, which is cut off by a superkick. The real running Nese finishes Murphy at 10:44.

Rating: C. The 205 Live guys had several matches that would blow this one away but at least they had a nice moment in the end with the fans getting into things. Nese as a face didn’t exactly click but beating Murphy felt like a bit deal. It’s a nice mini feel good moment to start what is going to be a long night.

From Takeover XXXI.

Cruiserweight Title: Isaiah Scott vs. Santos Escobar

Escobar is defending and gets taken down by an early anklescissors. A standoff doesn’t last long as Scott sends him outside for a moonsault, followed by a middle rope corkscrew dive to take the champ down again. Scott isn’t done as he hits a big Fosbury Flop to take him down again. Escobar’s arm is bent around the post on the floor for two back inside but Escobar snaps the neck across the top rope to get his first breather.

The suicide dive drives Scott into the barricade and it’s time to slowly stomp away back inside. That includes some SPANISH TRASH TALKING (so you know he’s serious) until Scott pops him in the jaw. Scott sends him outside for a bit, followed by the rolling Downward Spiral for two back inside. A DDT out of the corner gives Scott two more but here’s Legado del Fantasma for the distraction. Escobar grabs a shoulderbreaker (might have been a botched something else) for two and they head to the apron.

A springboard hurricanrana sends Escobar into the other two and here’s Ashante Adonis to take care of Legado. Back in and Escobar hits a jumping superkick into the Phantom Driver for a rather close two. Escobar hits Three Amigos but the frog splash is blocked. Scott snaps the arm and the House Call connects, setting up a 450 for two more. They go to the apron with Escobar knocking him head first into the post to knock Scott silly, setting up a double underhook facebuster to retain at 14:22.

Rating: B. They had me believing that the title would change here (and I wanted it to as I like Scott a good deal) but Escobar winning is the right call after he only won the title a few months ago. I’m not sure who is going to take the title from him, but they had a very solid back and forth match here. Having Adonis get rid of Legado make it more interesting so well done on a nice swerve before the ending.

We get some very quick stills from the Takeover: Stand & Deliver ladder match to wrap it up.

Overall Rating: B-. I never know what to do with this but the main event was the only match really worth seeing. They did what they should have done here as 205 Live means nothing and it isn’t like that show was going to be on anyone’s mind this week. Open the vault for something like this because it is a much better idea than trying to do something else.

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7^th Anniversary Show
Date: March 21, 2009
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Lenny Leonard, Dave Prazak

This is another in my long selection of DVDs and this is one that shouldn’t need much more of an explanation. I know a good bit more about ROH than PWG so this is nice for a change, though this is an era that I haven’t seen much of over the years. Your two big matches are Nigel McGuinness defending the World Title against Kenta and Kevin Steen/El Generico defending the Tag Team Titles against the American Wolves (Davey Richards/Eddie Edwards). Works for me so let’s get to it.

Bobby Dempsey knows that Larry Sweeney is getting to pick his next two opponents with the first one coming tonight. It doesn’t matter who is in front of him because he’s running through them and then coming for Sweeney.

Kenta warmed up in the empty arena earlier today.

I guess that’s our show intro as there is nothing else before we head into the matches.

Kenny King/Rhett Titus vs. Erick Stevens/Roderick Strong

Titus is Addicted To Love, basically making him a male stripper. The fans however remind him that he is a virgin and Titus isn’t pleased. Strong and King start things off with a fight over the wrist control, as you do in wrestling most of the time. King gets in a headscissors on the mat but Strong is back up with the armdrags into the armbar. Stevens comes in and the fans don’t seem overly pleased, but they are right there with the WOOing for the chops.

King brings Titus in, with Stevens running him over with the shoulder. Titus gets taken into the corner for the alternating chops and is then sent to the apron, where King gets in a knee to Stevens for a breather. A suplex into some forearms to the head gives King one and it’s back to Titus, who is perfectly fine thanks to the magic of wrestling. Titus’ dropkick gets one and it’s an atomic drop into a running clothesline from King to rock Stevens again. The chinlock….mostly goes on as Stevens is up to his feet before King really gets things set. Why waste time with something that isn’t going to work anyway?

Titus comes in for a hip swiveling suplex but Stevens hits him in the ribs. A powerslam to King and a kick to Titus still isn’t enough for the hot tag so Stevens ducks a right hand and brings Strong back in. Everything breaks down and Strong’s backbreaker (pick one) gets two on Titus. Something like a Fameasser gives Titus the same on Strong but a Razor’s Edge doesn’t work.

Instead it’s back to Stevens, with King knocking Strong off the apron instead of making another save. Some running knees to the back send Stevens into the buckle as everything breaks down again. Stevens throws Titus into the air for a hard clothesline but Titus is up to save King from a superplex. The yet to be named Sick Kick saves Stevens from a powerbomb/Blockbuster and Stevens hits the Doctor Bomb to finish Titus at 8:53.

Rating: C-. The match was energetic while it lasted but there were some times where you could tell they weren’t sure what to do. This is before Strong and King would become established names so it was about as good as you were going to get here. For an opener to a major show though, it worked out well enough.

There is no pay per view intro and we jump straight to the

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright

Claudio is better known as Cesaro and these two have been feuding for awhile without either of them getting a decisive win. Castagnoli jumps Albright before the bell and hits a running knee, only to get forearmed down into the corner. Neither can hit a hiptoss so Albright flips over him and hits a dropkick out to the floor, setting up the required dive. Back in and Albright hits a delayed vertical suplex on the much bigger Castagnoli. Albright charges into some boots in the corner and misses a charge, sending him crashing into the ropes.

The uppercut against the ropes lets Cesaro choke on the ropes, meaning he can shout about the horribleness that is the USA. We hit the neck crank on Albright for a bit, followed by a hard clothesline to drop him again. Albright fights out of another neck crank and throws Castagnoli with a suplex, only to walk into a leg lariat. The third neck crank goes on but another clothesline is countered with a Rock Bottom. Commentary completely ignores this to talk about the World Title match some more, giving me some rather annoying Nitro flashbacks.

Albright grabs a scoop powerslam for two but Castagnoli pump kicks him down for two more. A springboard…something is pulled out of the air so Albright can hit an Air Raid Crash (running White Noise) for his own two. Albright gets the same off a neckbreaker but Castagnoli sends him into the corner and grabs the swing. Back up and Albright snaps him down into a Crossface, sending Castagnoli into the ropes. Some dishonorable reliving of the nose annoys Castagnoli so much that he uppercuts Albright off the top for two.

They head outside with Castagnoli walking into an exploder to put them both down again. Back in and Albright snaps off a headscissors into the Crowbar (Fujiwara armbar), sending Castagnoli to the ropes again. Speaking of the ropes, Castagnoli drops him throat first across said ropes to take over. Castagnoli goes up so Albright superplexes him back down and we have one minute left. They slug it out and that’s the time limit at 14:58 (close enough).

Rating: B-. This took some time to get going and Albright caught up after Castagnoli dominated a good portion of the first half. After that it was back and forth stuff and the time limit wasn’t mentioned until near the end, meaning it was more than waiting on the time to expire. Good stuff here and you can see where people saw the star power in Castagnoli on his own.

Post match they have to be separated until Castagnoli says Americans are cowards. He wants five more minutes and Albright says it’s on.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright

The Crowbar goes on again but Castagnoli reverses into one of his own. The fans get behind Albright as he rolls out but Castagnoli kicks him low for the DQ at 1:00 of overtime.

Post match Castagnoli hits the Riccola Bomb (double arm trap sitout powerbomb) and grabs a chair. After beating up security, Castagnoli stomps the chair onto Albright’s head, more or less guaranteeing another rematch.

Mike Quackenbush found out that Bryan Danielson is a great wrestler but he’s ready to face Jerry Lynn. Jerry is on his way to the World Title shot against Nigel McGuinness, but tonight, Quackenbush’s hand is being raised.

We look at Larry Sweeney slapping and spitting at Bobby Dempsey (seemingly his lackey), earning himself a beating inside a cage in what felt like a big face turn.

Bobby Dempsey vs. Adam Pearce

A local news anchor named George Oliphant is guest timekeeper. Pearce has Shane Hagadorn and Sara Del Ray with him and is one of Sweeney’s guys. Before the match, Pearce makes the anchor introduce himself and insults his bowtie. Pearce brings up John Stossel and shoves George into the corner but here’s Dempsey to cut things off as we’re ready to go. The handshake results in a cheap shot from Pearce….but Dempsey grabs a Death Valley Driver for the pin at 28 seconds. Well that was a surprise.

Post match Dempsey does the Hulk Hogan shirt tear. The fans seem to like Dempsey as he poses with Oliphant.

Mike Quackenbush vs. Jerry Lynn

Lynn drives him into the corner to start and we get a clean break. The waistlock goes on but Quackenbush slips out without much trouble. They go into the expected battle of wrist control with Quackenbush cranking on the arm. A hiptoss gets Lynn out of trouble and we go to the standoff. Lynn headscissors him into the corner but can’t get a bulldog as Quackenbush takes him down into a double leglock. That’s reversed as well and Lynn works on the arm until Mike (I’m done with typing that long name) springboards into a hurricanrana for the escape and takes it to the mat.

Lynn reverses again and this time it’s an armbar on Mike. Back up and Mike is sent outside, meaning it’s a springboard dropkick to put him down. They switch places and Lynn hits the slingshot legdrop over the middle rope (or “legdrop thing” as commentary calls it) but Mike sweeps the leg to put him down on the apron. Mike tries a hurricanrana on the floor but gets caught and swung HARD into the barricade to put him down again. Back in and Lynn hits a tornado DDT and German suplex for two.

The cradle piledriver doesn’t work though and Mike grabs a crucifix for two of his own. They trade reversals until Lynn sends him into the corner for a collision of heads. Mike goes up but has to roll through a slam back down. Lynn goes up as well and hits a sunset bomb to bang Mike’s head again for two more. The cradle piledriver is blocked again and it’s a belly to back piledriver to plant Lynn. Not that it matters as Lynn is right back with the cradle piledriver for the pin at 9:36.

Rating: B-. This was the technical style match that you expect to see from Ring of Honor and it isn’t surprising given who was in there. Lynn and Quackenbush are both known technicians and the story they were telling here made it clear that Lynn was on his way to the World Title picture. It might not be the most interesting story, but they had an idea and stuck with it so points for following through.

Post match Mike takes some time to get up but they shake hands.

We recap the Necro Butcher leaving the Age of the Fall and being replaced by Delirious. From what I can tell, Austin Aries is now an associate of the team but hasn’t officially joined. He’ll be in a six man tag though, facing off against three former members of the team. I think. The story was kind of all over the place and they didn’t exactly make the story clear here.

Age of the Fall/Austin Aries vs. Delirious/Necro Butcher/Tyler Black

This is Ultimate Endurance (elimination rules and No DQ) under Revolution Rules (each fall has to be by a different method than the previous. For example you can’t have two pins in a row, but you can have pin, submission, pin). The Age of the Fall is Brodie Lee (looking YOUNG here)/Jimmy Jacobs and Black is better known as Seth Rollins. The non-Age of the Fall has Daizee Haze with them just in case there weren’t enough people around. Delirious charges into an elbow from Lee to start but it’s quickly off to (the barefoot) Butcher for the slugout.

Everything breaks down in a hurry and Delirious pulls Jacobs in for some revenge. The triple teaming is on and Butcher dives to the floor to take everyone down again. Everyone fights to the floor as commentary explains the rules for the first time. Delirious steals something from a fan to rub in Jacobs’ face and Lee blasts Butcher in the face with a big boot. Everyone gets back in with Aries and the Age being whipped into each other, followed by Delirious hitting a Cactus Clothesline to Lee.

Black busts out the big flip dive onto the pile, who happened to be standing there for his big flip dive. Butcher adds his own flip dive off the top but comes up holding his ankle. Haze, wearing Delirious’ jacket, goes up but Aries pulls her down. That brings in Delirious for the save with a cobra clutch, which Aries breaks up in a hurry.

Aries misses a running corner dropkick but here’s Lee to make the save, earning himself a hurricanrana out of the corner. Delirious hits some running knees in the corners to Lee and Aries until Lee is back up to save Jacobs from the cobra stretch. The swinging Boss Man Slam (always looks good) plants Delirious and Aries’ brainbuster finishes him off at 7:05. Since that was a pin, the next fall has to be submission, countout or knockout.

Lee kicks Black in the face to put him outside, followed by a slow motion Boss Man Slam to send Butcher into the ramp. Back in and Jacobs and Aries get in a bit of a fight over who gets to beat up Black. Since Black is smart enough to take advantage of it, he beats on both of them until Lee makes the save. Butcher comes back in to sent Aries and Jacobs outside before slugging away at Lee in the corner. The fight takes them to the floor as well as commentary can’t understand why Butcher doesn’t wear shoes.

Butcher and Lee go into the crowd (With ROH being smart enough TO GO SPLIT SCREEN!!! WHY IS THIS SO FREAKING HARD FOR EVERY OTHER COMPANY????) with Butcher getting in a good right hand to the face. Aries and Jacobs double team Black but stop to wonder where the other two are. The referee wants to know too but since they’re that far gone, both Butcher and Lee are eliminated at 11:41.

So pinfalls are allowed again as Black is double teamed some more. Aries stops to tell a fan that they’re ugly and Jacobs pulls out some of Black’s hair. That’s enough as Aries and Jacobs get in a fight over who gets to beat up Black but are smart enough to let it go and beat on Black again. Black is sat in a chair at ringside but they get in a fight over who gets to go for the suicide dive. This time they actually slug it out, allowing Black to springboard in with a double clothesline.

The Phoenix splash hits Aries but Jacobs catches Black on top. Aries holds Black in the Tree of Woe for a running hip attack and a slingshot dropkick gets two. The Contra Code (sitout Sliced Bread) is broken up though and Aries’ running dropkick hits Jacobs by mistake. Aries is back up with a shinbreaker to Black and throws him on his head with a release belly to back suplex.

Thankfully Black can still move and blocks the brainbuster with some knees to the head. Black nails the buckle bomb and the low superkick sets up the End Time (Jacobs’ guillotine choke) to get rid of Aries at 17:55. So we’re down to Jacobs vs. Black and it cannot end with submission. Jacobs brings in a chair but Black takes him down to start the brawl. A heck of a chair shot to the back puts Black down again so Jacobs pulls out his trusty railroad spike.

Black kicks it away but Jacobs nails a low blow, setting up the Contra Code for two. The End Time goes on again and Jacobs is dumb enough to let go even though there is no submission. Black powers up though and hits God’s Last Gift (fisherman’s buster into a small package) for the pin at 20:53.

Rating: B. Yeah this was good and the best thing on the show so far. The Age of the Fall was pretty much done at this point and would be done for good in June. Black is clearly the breakout star though and is moving up the ranks in a hurry. Good match here with a nice mixture of wrestling and brawling, so well done on the whole thing. Jacobs is someone who has grown on me as I’ve seen more of his work, though he still seems more like the guy who always comes up short more than anything else.

Nigel McGuinness is warming up for the main event.

Ring of Honor is coming to Nashville. By that we mean the show has taken place and we have clips, one of which seems to include Kenny Omega.

Jay Briscoe has been here since day one and he is ready to face D’Lo Brown, who he grew up watching. No disrespect to Brown, but he is going to have to man up.

Bison Smith/Jimmy Rave vs. Bryan Danielson/Grizzly Redwood

Smith and Rave are part of the Embassy with Prince Nana and Ernie Osiris. Before the bell, Nana says we need to think Barack Obama for his economic stimulus package because that money has allowed him to rebuild the Embassy. That includes the Crown Jewel of the Embassy, which sets up a huge entrance for Rave (making a big return). Bryan charges to the ring but gets caught by Smith in a spinning backbreaker. Redwood, the rather small lumberjack, fails to make the save but we have a surprise run-in return to take his place.

Bison Smith/Jimmy Rave vs. Bryan Danielson/Colt Cabana

The fans are VERY happy to see Cabana and he starts with Rave, who is pelted with toilet paper instead of streamers. Feeling out process to start with Rave seeming a bit tentative so Cabana shoulders him out to the floor. Some shoulders to the chest give Cabana two back inside as commentary goes over Cabana’s ROH history. Danielson comes in for the surfboard, sending Rave’s head into the ropes for the save. Some kicks in the corner connect as we hear about Bryan’s history against Smith.

Everything breaks down for a bit and it’s an STO to Cabana on the apron as Smith gorilla presses Danielson into the corner. Rave stomps Danielson down for two and we hit the chinlock. It’s back to Smith for the hard shoulder and he cranks on the neck as well. Bryan finally gets in a kick to the face and dives over for the hot tag to Cabana, though the fans don’t respond that loudly. The Flying Apple connects but Smith’s running shoulder (Prazak: “That’s the Flying Bison.”) cuts him down.

Everything breaks down again and Danielson sends Smith outside. The slingshot dive is pulled out of the air and Smith comes back in with a claw slam onto Rave’s knee to Cabana. A running knee gets two and Smith claws Cabana until Bryan breaks it up with a knee. Cabana and Bryan baseball slide Smith over the barricade, setting up a heck of a dive from Bryan. That leaves Cabana to elbow Rave in the head but Rave pulls him into the heel hook. Cabana slips out in a hurry and grabs the Superman Cover for the pin at 10:35.

Rating: C+. This worked for a double surprise, though having both teams include a special appearance kind of left them in a tough place. That being said, Smith seemed like a monster and you don’t want him losing either, meaning that Cabana going over Rave was the only way out of it. Granted any match from 2009 with Danielson is going to be entertaining and the fans loved Cabana so it was a pretty strong reaction to everything.

Post match Cabana says he loved hearing Copacabana when he came out here, but there is only one song he wants to hear right now and it belongs to Danielson. The Final Countdown begins and the fans seem rather appreciative, including singing the lyrics as Bryan and Cabana pose (which is always cool).

Jay Briscoe vs. D’Lo Brown

Mark Briscoe is here with Jay and it’s still weird to see Brown as kind of a legend. And without his head shaking everywhere. Before the match, Brown talks about being future endeavored from WWE after a very uneventful comeback and a complete waste of time. So what does he think of those guys up north? Thank you. He thanks them for wishing him good luck because his future endeavors are now here in Ring of Honor. Feeling out process to start with Briscoe taking over off a test of strength.

Brown drives him into the corner but gets shouldered out to the floor in a hurry. Back in and Brown’s running knee is blocked so they slap hands and reset. An exchange of legsweeps get one each and Brown isn’t sure what to do with Briscoe. A dropkick puts Brown down but he has the referee step aside and gets in a cheap low blow. Brown stands around for a good bit before hitting Jay in the head. Jay is fine with a slugout but Brown drops him with a big shot to the jaw.

They chop it out for a change and this time Brown goes to the eyes to cut him off. The cobra clutch keeps Jay in trouble before Brown goes with three straight standing clotheslines for two. Jay is sat on the apron for some forearms, plus a springboard dropkick to the floor. Brown goes back to the apron but gets dropkicked out of the air, leaving both of them rather staggered.

Back in and Brown gets Downward Spiraled into the top turnbuckle, followed by a hard clothesline for two. The Jay Driller is blocked though and Brown grabs a good Sky High for two. Jay is right back with a Death Valley Driver for his own two so it’s up top for a missed guillotine legdrop. Brown is right there with a rollup (including tights) for the pin at 12:38.

Rating: C+. Perfectly watchable match here, though it’s weird seeing Briscoe waiting to break through to the next level instead of being one of the biggest stars the company has ever seen. The match was good enough action and I’ve always liked Brown so we’ll call it a learning experience for Jay, which you have to have at one point or another.

Post match Mark yells a lot, both at the referee and Brown. Jay isn’t pleased either.

We recap the American Wolves (Eddie Edwards/Davey Richards) vs. Kevin Steen/El Generico (Kevin Steen/El Generico, better known as Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn). The Wolves injured Mark Briscoe at Final Battle and Steen and Generico made the save. Then the Wolves attacked them again, including Steen’s bad knee. Then they attacked Steen and Generico again…three months later. I think we’re missing something in there.

Tag Team Titles: American Wolves vs. Kevin Steen/El Generico

No DQ and the Wolves, with Sara Del Ray and Shane Hagadorn in their corner. The champs hit the ring in a hurry (chasing off the ring announcer mid introduction. Steen hits a Cannonball to Edwards, followed by the yet to be named Helluva Kick. The Wolves are on the floor so Steen hits a big dive as I don’t think the bell ever rang. Generico throws some chairs into the ring and then throws Davey into the barricade. They get inside and it’s a drop toehold to send Eddie face first into the chair.

Steen puts another on the back of Eddie’s head for a running flip legdrop. Generico’s running flip dive only hits chairs and Davey Tombstones him onto the chairs (more like a Tombstone into a powerslam but close enough). It’s time to start in on Owens’ knee as thankfully they aren’t bothering with tagging in a No DQ match. There’s a dragon screw legwhip to take the knee out again and some kicks to the ribs to keep him in trouble. Richards grabs a title and says they’re the next champs, which is enough to bring Steen back to life.

Granted he is knocked right back down, but at least he was up for a second. Steen low bridges both of them to the floor though and it’s Generico hitting a double springboard flip dive to take everyone out. That means the OLE chants start up again, even as Generico hits Eddie in the ribs with a chair. Instead of the rope walk armdrag, Generico drops down and pelts the chair at Eddie’s head. Well that was effective.

A splash out of the corner gives Generico two….and it’s time for a ladder. Hagadorn: “THAT IS CROSSING THE LINE!” Generico’s split legged moonsault onto Davey onto the ladder gets two and Steen limps around to pick the ladder up again. The ladder is set up against the rope but Eddie kicks Steen in the face. Generico kicks him down but the springboard flip dive hits the ladder.

Eddie throws Generico into the air for a kick to the chest and a chair to the head into a German suplex with a flipping jackknife cover gets two with Steen lightly shoving the Wolves for the pin. Back up and Steen powerbombs Davey out of the corner and suplexes Eddie into the corner. The Cannonball hits both Wolves at once and Sami goes Coast to Coast with a springboard flip dive into a ladder for two of his own.

Steen hits the pumphandle driver to drive Eddie through a chair but Davey sends Generico hard into the barricade. Back in and Steen misses a dive off the top to bang up the knee again. Davey calls Steen fat and hits him in the knee with the chair, setting up the Texas Cloverleaf. That’s broken up by a diving Generico but he accidentally chairs Steen in the head. Richards’ shooting star press misses though and Steen unloads on him with chair shot to the knee. The Sharpshooter makes Richards scream…and tap at 17:07.

Rating: B+. Now that was a surprise as I would have bet on the Wolves taking the titles here. That’s one of the fun parts about watching these older shows without knowing the results: you get a surprise ending like this and have a cool moment which could just as easily have been spoiled. These four beat the heck out of each other with some good violence so the idea of Steen returning the favors on the knee and winning the match as a result was a great way to finish things off. This was a lot of fun and I can see why the tag division was well received for a long time.

Post match the champs pull themselves up but the Wolves jump them again. Eddie chairs Steen in the head and a belt shot drops Generico. The Wolves put Generico through the table hard but the bloody Steen is back up. That doesn’t last long either as they tape him to the ropes and chair away at the knee, followed by a Conchairto to knock him silly. The Wolves pose with the belts and the champs are destroyed. It takes a good while to cut Steen free and he has to be carried out of the arena. The Wolves would win the title the next month.

Buy All Star Extravaganza with Bryan Danielson vs. Jerry Lynn! And some other stuff!

We recap Kenta vs. Nigel McGuinness for the ROH World Title. Kenta pinned him in a tag match and gets a title shot as a result (or he might have already had it). If there is anything else, it isn’t important enough to show here.

Ring of Honor World Title: Kenta vs. Nigel McGuinness

Nigel, with a bad arm, is defending and has the title on backwards as is his custom. We get the Big Match Intros and we’re ready to go. Kenta takes him up against the ropes and slaps him in the face, which doesn’t set well with Nigel. Nigel tries to do the same but gets slapped again. A kick to the arm takes Nigel down but he is back up with a headbutt. The big lariat is loaded up, which only hurts the arm again. Nigel is sent shoulder first into the post and it’s off to a logical armbar. That’s broken up so Kenta hits some kicks to the arm and head, with Nigel telling him to bring it on.

Kenta does just that and Nigel goes down in the corner, as you might have expected. Nigel slips out of a Kimura by getting to the rope so it’s time for more kicks. Kenta misses a top rope stomp to the head though and it’s a Tower of London (hanging cutter) to the floor. Back in and Nigel kicks him between the shoulders and an arm wrench takes Kenta down. Nigel slowly strikes away, including some headbutts to Kenta’s arm.

A suplex by the arm gives Nigel two and it’s off to the crossface chickenwing. Nigel takes him down with a dropkick but bangs up the arm on the landing, meaning the near fall is delayed. More arm cranking ensues with Nigel bending backwards into kind of a makeshift Rings of Saturn. Kenta fights up again and hits a running boot to the chest, followed by a not very snappy suplex. There’s the keylock again but Nigel makes the rope for the pretty fast save.

The running boot in the corner misses though and Nigel kicks him down. Another kick to the chest cuts off Nigel’s charge so Kenta goes up top, only to get knocked outside in a big crash. Kenta misses a big boot against the barricade and hits his own to knock Nigel over the barricade. Nigel is draped over the barricade for the BIG double stomp to the back and they’re both down again. It takes Nigel a long time to get back in and Kenta hits a fisherman’s buster for two.

The running knee (which Daniel Bryan copied) gives Kenta two more and it’s off to a pinfall reversal sequence. Nigel gets the London Dungeon (Zack Gibson’s Shankley Gates….which you might know better as a seated armbar) but Kenta backs to the rope. Another Tower of London drops Kenta for two but he blocks a third attempt. Instead Kenta runs the ropes for a super Falcon Arrow for a very near fall. The Go To Sleep is countered so Kenta settles for a heck of a bridging German suplex for two.

Go To Sleep connects on the second attempt for a very close two with Nigel getting a foot on the rope. They go to the floor with Nigel hitting (mostly) another Tower of London to the apron/floor. Back in and another Go To Sleep is blocked so Nigel hits his own Go To Sleep for two more. The London Dungeon goes on again but Nigel lets it go to pull him back to the middle. That lets Kenta roll him up for two but another Go To Sleep is blocked. It’s back to the London Dungeon but this time Nigel bends backwards to put Kenta’s back over his knees, this time for the tap at 26:20.

Rating: A. This was GREAT as they beat the heck out of each other for the better part of half an hour. Commentary pushed the idea that Nigel was practically wrestling without arms so he had to come up with another way to hang onto the title, including a submission that involved using his hands and knees. Kenta was a monster here too with the strikes looking great. I don’t know how they screwed him up in NXT but it must have been an amazing series of injuries. They pulled off a heck of a trick here by sucking me into a match where I already knew the ending. Check this one out because it’s really great stuff.

Kenta gets the big applause as commentary thanks the fans for the last seven years to end the show.

We’re not quite done though as the DVD includes the ROH Video Wire, which is a collection of bonus videos.

From March 13 in Collinsville, Illinois.

Here’s Ric Flair for a special appearance….or at least his entrance as we cut off after about thirty seconds.

We see some highlights from a show on March 18.

Back to Collinsville with Jimmy Jacobs vs. Delirious. Jacobs says Delirious has failed him for the last time and pulls out the spike, which hits Daizee Haze instead. Delirious blocks the spike to his own head and stabs Jacobs instead. We’re clipped to Delirious hitting a bunch of running knees to the head in the corner before stopping to stare at Daizee. They have the big hug and the fans certainly seem to approve.

Nigel McGuinness is ready for a tag match between himself/Davey Richards vs. Kenta/El Generico, which would have been the night before the Anniversary Show.

From Indianapolis, Indiana on March 14, Bison Smith beats up Bryan Danielson with referees and agents having to separate them.

Claudio Castagnoli talks about Brent Albright wanting to step up his game but getting kicked in the face like a stupid American.

From the same Indianapolis show, the American Wolves jump Kevin Steen and El Generico but get chased off by someone with a chair.

The American Wolves promise to take the Tag Team Titles from Steen and Generico at the Anniversary Show.

Kevin Steen and El Generico are ticked off at the Wolves, with Steen saying someone else injured his knee eight years ago. He’ll be back up for the fight though because hurting his knee isn’t going to stop him.

That was a rather random assortment of videos and it felt a lot more like a commercial for the Video Wire than something that really added much to the show. It’s hardly anything that brings it down though either, making it pretty much a meaningless bonus feature.

Overall Rating: B+. There is a reason that this version of Ring of Honor is held in so much esteem and it was on display here. This was a heck of a show with the last two matches cranking it up to another level. It was a bit long at times and there are some matches which could have been trimmed a good bit, but I had a really good time with this and it was one of the better ROH shows I’ve ever seen. I could go for more from this period and that’s not something I get to say very often. Check this one out if you have the chance.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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Ring of Honor vs. SCUM
Date: 2012, 2013

So over the last few weeks, I’ve bought a ton of DVDs and video downloads from Highspots as they had a crazy sale with everything in both categories at 50% off. They had a ton of cheap stuff included, including this 3 disc, nine plus hour set which I couldn’t pass up for $5. SCUM was a heel faction in ROH and the set is the major matches, angles and promos from the story. Let’s get to it.

I’ve never seen any of this as I wasn’t watching ROH at the time so I’m coming in mostly blind. I’m only going off what they show me here. Also for the sake of simplicity, all dates are the broadcast dates rather than the dates the matches were taped.

Disc 1

From Border Wars 2012 (May 12, 2012).

We see the end of Kevin Steen (Owens) challenging Davey Richards for the World Title. They beat the heck out of each other and Owens spat at him a lot but got caught in an ankle lock. That was reversed with a roll into an exposed buckle and the package piledriver gave Steen the title after about 4:30 shown of 24:27.

Post match, ROH boss Cary Silkin can’t bring himself to present the World Title to Steen so he hands it to the referee and walks away instead. Owens’ friend Jimmy Jacobs celebrates with him and commentator Steve Corino gets inside as well. The jacket comes off and Owens is ready to fight again but Corino hugs him for a big surprise, though Corino didn’t seem to do anything until after the match.

From ROH TV, June 2, 2012.

Here’s Kevin Steen, with Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino, for a chat. Corino cuts off Kevin Kelly and says that it’s about time the junior member of the commentary team got to talk. He introduces Steen and handles the interview with the new champ. Eighteen months ago, Silkin tried to kill Steen’s career but now he has to call Steen if he wants to book the World Champion.

Steen looks at the title and says he promised this would happen six months ago. Steen: “LOOK HOW SHINY IT IS!” Corino talks about how Steen has shows him evil is the only way to go and Steen talks about how he’s going to decide which appearances he makes. Of course he’ll go to the health and fitness expo, plus the affiliate dinner where the World Champion is expected to appear. He’ll dress to the nines and tell all of those people what they really need to hear about Jim Cornette.

Cue Cornette, who doesn’t want Steen anywhere near that meeting and promises Steen won’t be the World Champion by then. Cornette wanted Corino to keep Steen from winning the title and then he hugged him! Just for that, Corino is fired from doing DVD commentary. Corino blames Cornette for putting him out of the ring in the first place and rants about how Cornette made him sign some horrible contract.

Cornette calls Steen a cancer to this company who does nothing to his image. He’ll find someone who can take the title from Steen and there are a lot of people who want a shot at Best in the World. Cue Davey Richards, with Kyle O’Reilly, to say he’s sick of being lumped in with Camp Cornette. Before Cornette can say anything, Davey cuts him off to say that he’s here to fight for himself. Davey admits Steen was the better man in Toronto, which Cornette says is the problem. It is a problem, but it’s Cornette’s problem.

At Best in the World, Davey wants the two best to fight for that title. If Cornette won’t give him the title match, Davey is beating Cornette up instead. Steen and company leaves as Cornette makes the title match, which is Davey’s final shot at the title. Davey is coming for the title for himself and Steen’s worst nightmare begins in New York City. This was longer than it needed to be but it set up the next title match and showed you who was where.

From The Nightmare Begins (June 15, 2012).

Steen comes out for a match but first, Cornette rants about how Steen recently lost the company a potential sponsorship. Kevin has the fans chant MR. WRESTLING and makes sure Cornette hears it. Cornette gets in the ring and says Steen doesn’t deserve to be called Mr. Wrestling (he doesn’t even wear a mask).

Steen brings up the dinner with the sponsor and doesn’t get why saying the sponsor’s wife was more wrinkly than a puppy or threatening to eat the sponsor’s face were bad ideas. Cornette talks about how someone has to defeat Steen and every time he wrestles in a singles match, the title is on the line. Steen says Cornette will die before someone takes the title from him because he’s the World Champion.

Ring of Honor World Title: Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Edwards

Date: June 15, 2012

Location: Charleston Civic Center, Charleston, West Virginia

Commentators: Jim Cornette, Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly

Steen is defending and Jimmy Jacobs is at ringside. Jacobs goes for the trip from the floor to start so Eddie dives on him early on. A low bridge puts Steen on the floor but he trips Steen onto the apron. The apron bomb is countered with a hurricanrana but a fall away slam sends Eddie into the barricade (Corino: “I was hoping he’d hit a fan.”).

They fight up the aisle with Eddie being sent into the barricade again, right in front of some Hooters girls. We look at commentary as Cornette rants about how Steen is destroying everything the company is building. Steen fishhooks Edwards’ face to freak Cornette out again and they head back inside. The beating continues as Corino and Kevin Kelly get in an argument on commentary.

We seem to go to a commercial as commentary stops with Steen choking in the corner. Commentary pops back in as Steen cuts off a comeback attempt. The chinlock goes on with Steen saying it’s straight out of the 1980s. Corino: “If we had been around in the 80s, there wouldn’t have been a Midnight Express!”. Eddie fights out and hits a missile dropkick for two as the fans start getting behind the comeback.

Steen gets sent outside for a suicide dive and a middle rope Codebreaker (called the Boston Knee Party here) gets two. The pop up powerbomb gives Steen the same and the Sharpshooter goes on. Eddie makes it to the rope so Steen gives him a Randy Orton hanging DDT.

The Cannonball misses so Eddie drops a top rope double stomp for two. Steen bails to the floor and Edwards follows, earning himself a spinebuster through the announcers’ table. Back in and they trade superkicks but Steen reverses a Backpack Stunner into a sleeper suplex. The F Cinc (F5) retains the title at 16:17.

Rating: B. They were getting somewhere here, even though the title wasn’t exactly in danger. Edwards is a former World Champion who won the title in a surprise so it wasn’t completely out of the question, but Steen isn’t losing the title in his first major defense. Having Steen run over former World Champions makes him seem all the more dangerous and gives Cornette something else to rant about.

Post match, Steen spits in Cornette’s drink for a bonus.

From ROH TV, June 23, 2012.

Kevin Steen/Jimmy Jacobs vs. Davey Richards/Kyle O’Reilly

Date: June 23, 2012

Location: Du Burns Arena, Baltimore, Maryland

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness, Steve Corino

Richards jumps Steen before the bell and the brawl starts on the floor. Richards kicks away at Jacobs and takes him inside but has to save O’Reilly from an apron bomb. A suicide dive sends Jacobs into the barricade as Richards is basically fighting on his own so far. Back in and Richards hits a top rope double stomp to Steen, setting up the ankle lock. That’s broken up and it’s Steen hitting the pop up apron bomb to break Richards in half.

We take a break (for some reason with the commercial footage not shown) and come back with Steen sending Richards into the barricade. Things settle down into a regular tag match with Jacobs hitting a springboard elbow to O’Reilly and grabbing him by the ear. It’s back to Steen for a backsplash to stay on the ribs but O’Reilly grabs a rollup for two.

Richards comes back in without a tag for a double clothesline and it’s time for the kicks in the corner. A big kick drops Steen and we hit the ankle lock. Jacobs makes the save with a guillotine choke but O’Reilly makes a save of his own. O’Reilly and Jacobs fight to the floor with Richards joining them.

Steen hits the big running flip dive to take all three of them out. Not to be kept down, Davey pops up with a t-bone suplex to Steen on the apron. Steen is back up and kicks the rope into a low blow on Richards but the other two knock Richards and Steen onto the timekeeper’s table. Jacobs drives O’Reilly through the table though and that’s a double DQ at 12:37.

Rating: C. This was your wild brawl style main event and that’s what it should be. We’re coming up on Best in the World and there is no reason to have Steen or Richards lose a fall here. That being said, having Richards take Jacobs out for a pin here would have been fine, but what we got here was good enough.

Post match the brawl stays on with Steen taking out a referee until security breaks it up.

From Best in the World 2012 (June 24, 2012).

Ring of Honor World Title: Kevin Steen vs. Davey Richards

Date: June 24, 2012

Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York

Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

Steen is defending and anything goes, including Steen’s package piledriver. Hold on though as we need to hear from Corino, meaning the ECW chants are out in full force. Corino says he is an evil man but you are seeing the era of KILL STEEN KILL. He’s going to be out there giving Steen the proper representation that he deserves, unlike Jim Cornette. Cue Cornette to say Corino can do commentary, but Cornette will be sitting at ringside as well.

We’re not ready to go yet though as Kyle O’Reilly comes out to complain about the fact that he’s not in Davey’s corner. Apparently Davey didn’t like O’Reilly’s match against Adam Cole. Well Adam Cole is getting stitches so he’s here to stab Richards in the f****** eye. He hates Steen but respects Davey but he’s no one’s lackey. Corino: “Does he kiss his boyfriend with that mouth?” O’Reilly flips the fans off and leaves, much to Richards’ chagrin.

Steen bails to the apron to start so Richards knocks him through the timekeeper’s table. A running boot against the barricade hits Steen and Richards whips him into it again. Davey has to deal with Jacobs though and it’s a pop up apron bomb to drop him cold. Steen rips off the barricade covers and buries Richards under them, setting up the frog splash off the apron. They go inside with Steen’s Swanton hitting raised knees (yelling at Cornette might have something to do with it) but he’s right back with a hanging DDT for two.

Just to be a bit more evil, Steen goes outside again and superkicks the ring announcer, allowing Richards to hit a suicide dive. Cornette and former boss Cary Silkin help the announcer to the back as Richards suplexes Steen on the apron. The fans want fire but have to settle for Richards hitting a top rope double stomp through the announcers’ table. Cornette is back and panicking as Richards sends Steen back inside for another double stomp and a near fall.

Richards throws in a couple of chairs and then adds two more, including the one Cornette was sitting in. Steen gets in a chair to the head though and the Cannonball onto the chair onto Richards gets two. The chairs are piled on top of Richards but he gets up before the Swanton can launch. A top rope superplex onto the chairs gets two on Steen so it’s table time.

Richards loads him up on top again but gets reversed into a spinning fisherman’s superplex through the table for two more. Cornette is selling the heck out of this as he panics over the near falls. Steen steals the mouthpiece and puts it in his own mouth but takes too long setting up the chairs. That earns him a German suplex onto the two open chairs and they’re both down again.

With nothing else working, Richards grabs a chain and wraps it around his boot for some Kawada kicks. Steen spits at him so it’s the big kick to the head, with the chain, for two more. The referee gets bumped and Davey busts out a ladder. Steen grabs a quick F Cinc (Corino: “WE NEED A REFEREE! WE NEED A REFEREE!”) so here’s another referee for a slow two.

That earns the new referee a package piledriver as the fans think this is awesome. Richards grabs a Jay Driller onto the ladder but there’s no referee, even as the fans count to twenty. The referee is thrown back in but Jacobs gets in and busts out his spike. That brings Cornette in to take it away, which brings in Corino to kick him low. Richards suplexes Jacobs onto the ladder in the corner but Steen stabs Richards low. The package piledriver retains the title at 21:20.

Rating: B+. This was a wild fight and while I’m rarely a fan of Richards, I got pulled into the story here and that’s a hard trick to pull. They made me believe that they might do a title change here and the story they were going with, of Richards having no friends because of his obsession and being overcome by the numbers, worked really well. I was rather surprised by this and they beat the heck out of each other.

Post match, Corino announces Steen the winner by clean pinfall. Steen says cut the music because he’s waited a long time to close a New York City show as World Champion. He can’t stand hypocrites and there aren’t many bigger hypocrites than Cornette. We’ll come back to that, as Steen needs to talk about Eddie Edwards (seems like he said the wrong name as he is talking straight to Richards) because he has been working a long time to face Richards in a title match like this.

The most hypocritical people in wrestling are the fans (that makes them cheer louder) because they cheered when El Generico got rid of him at Final Battle 2010. That brings up the OLE chants but Steen cuts them off by saying he came back six months later and the fans cheered him all over again. If you need even more proof of the hypocrisy, what about fans buying tickets to an ROH show and then chant for Brian Danielson and CM Punk. Like they even remember this company!

These people like turning on former World Champions like Nigel McGuinness and Tyler Black, but they can’t turn on Steen because he doesn’t care about any of them. He’s going to be the final ROH World Champion because they’re killing this company. So f*** this company and f*** New York City. I guess this was designed to make the fans boo Steen, but I’m not sure how well that is going to work.

From ROH TV, August 11, 2012.

Kevin Steen/Jimmy Jacobs/Steve Corino vs. Jay Lethal/All Night Express

Date: August 11, 2012

Location: Du Burns Arena, Baltimore, Maryland

Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

The Express are World Tag Team Champions Kenny King/Rhett Titus and Lethal has been asking for a shot at Steen. It’s a brawl to start with Lethal and Jacobs staying in the ring as the other four fight outside. Lethal’s basement dropkick connects but Corino throws Lethal to the floor. Titus comes in for a jumping elbow to Corino so it’s off to King vs. Steen for a change. The good guys clear the ring but head straight to the floor to keep up the fight. That lets Steen throw King into the barricade as Titus gives Corino a slingshot belly to back suplex.

We settle down to a regular tag match with Titus splashing Corino for two and King adding a suplex. Titus’ slingshot shoulder gets two and we hit the chinlock. That doesn’t last long so it’s back to King, who gets his neck snapped across the top by Jacobs so the villains can take over.

We take a break and come back with Steen planting King and sending him into the evil corner. Corino pulls on King’s ears (that’s just cruel) and kicks out of King’s sunset flip at two. It’s off to Lethal for the house cleaning, including a neckbreaker/DDT combination to Jacobs and Corino. Steen misses a clothesline and Lethal suicide dives onto Corino. Back in and Titus drops Steen, setting up the Hail to the King top rope elbow for two on Steen with Corino making the save.

A Downward Spiral plants Lethal and we hit the parade of secondary finishers. Lethal hits the Lethal Combination on Steen and everyone is down. The Lethal Injection is broken up and Jacobs hits the Contra Code (Sliced Bread) on Lethal. Steen’s Swanton gets two so Jacobs pulls out the spike, only to walk into the Lethal Injection for the pin at 12:16.

Rating: B-. Fine enough six man main event here and that’s all it needed to be. They had a nice, longish match here and it gives Lethal some momentum towards what is likely going to be a World Title shot. It’s fine to beat someone like Jacobs as he is the glorified lackey of the team, so everything is fine from all of this.

Post match Steen and company beat down the Express, including a suplex to put King through an open chair. Jacobs and Corino hold up the Tag Team Titles.

From Death Before Dishonor 2012 (September 15, 2020).

We see Corino and Jacobs defeating Charlie Haas and Rhett Titus for the vacant Tag Team Titles after King left the company over a contract dispute. That’s not mentioned here, along with why Haas is in the match or why the titles are vacant.

From Killer Instinct (October 6, 2012).

We see the end of Steen vs. Lethal with Steen spitting on Lethal’s mother, sending Lethal into a rage. The beating was on and the match was thrown out as a result. Steen storms off as Cornette tries to calm things down. The fans are TICKED as Lethal beats on things with a chair. Lethal leaves through the crowd but comes back in and threatens to murder anyone who spits on his mother. Of note: Corino was wearing a jacket that said SCUM, though there has been no mention of the name or what it means yet. For a DVD about Ring of Honor vs. SCUM, that might be an important detail.

Post show, Lethal is ticked off in the back and throws Cornette over a table, writing him out of the promotion. Lethal storms off as Cornette is checked on.

From ROH TV, December 15, 2012.

Steve Corino vs. Jay Briscoe

Date: December 15, 2012

Location: Rostraver Ice Gardens, Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Caleb Seltzer

Street fight as I guess the Briscoes are chasing the Tag Team Titles. Corino comes to the ring in a suit and the team is officially named SCUM. Kelly confirms that SCUM is defending in a three way tag match at Final Battle against the Briscoes and Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander. They fight to the floor in a hurry and Jay hits him in the face with a drink. A whip into the barricade gives Corino a breather and it’s time to fight over a table. Jay punches him down though and it’s a double stomp to put Corino through the table.

Back from a break with Jay hitting him in the head with the bell and wedging chairs in the corners. Cue Jimmy Jacobs for a distraction though and Corino gets in a right hand with a roll of quarters for two. Mark Briscoe comes out to drop Jacobs and here’s a wheelbarrow full of chairs for a bonus.

As Mark beats on Jimmy a bit more, Corino sends Jay into a chair in the corner. Corino slams Jay onto the pile of chairs and it’s time to bring in another table. A suplex onto an open chair gives Corino two (and Jay a rather sore back) but you don’t do that around here, as Jay gives him a Death Valley Driver onto two open chairs. Mark comes back out with a piece of barricade but Jacobs hits him low.

The distraction lets Corino suplex Jay through a table, because a Death Valley Driver onto a chair is a thirty second injury. The barricade is bridged between the chairs but Corino takes too much time and gets top rope superplexed onto the barricade. Fans: “HOLY (MOSTLY) CENSORED!”. Alexander and Coleman come down to brawl with Jacobs and Mark as Jay gets the pin at 17:53.

Rating: B-. The violence was good but at the same time, there was so much going on and the big spots were getting a little ridiculous by the end. I know they’re building up to the big title match, but how much sense does it make to have a major street fight on the go home show to a pay per view? It was violent, but it didn’t make the most sense.

Post match here’s Steen, holding El Generico’s mask. He talks about Generico beating him at Final Battle 2010 to get rid of him from Ring of Honor. Since then, Steen has returned and become World Champion. That isn’t enough to make the feeling go away because he realized that he and Generico are destined to fight forever. Steen starts rocking back and forth as he says he isn’t scared of a ladder war with Generico. He goes to the floor to yell at Kevin Kelly for being worried about what would happen to Generico and Steen two years ago. Back in the ring, Steen promises to leave Final Battle either as champion or as a corpse.

From Final Battle 2012 (December 16, 2012).

We see the end of Jay Lethal defeating Rhino. Commentary suggests that SCUM hired Rhino to take Lethal. Corino grabs the mic and says he dated Lethal’s mom. Lethal used to carry Corino’s bag and Corino respects him, but Lethal isn’t messing up SCUM. Cue Jacobs from behind and the double teaming is on. Rhino gets up to Gore Lethal so Corino can shout that Lethal will never be in the main event.

Also from Final Battle 2012 (December 16, 2012).

We get some highlights from the Ladder War between Steen and Generico. They beat the heck out of each other and destroyed a bunch of ladders, including a package piledriver to put Generico through a bridged ladder. Steen won (and it’s a newly designed title) because Generico was mostly dead.

From ROH TV, January 23, 2013.

Nigel McGuinness is in the ring, surrounded by security, and brings out Jay Lethal and Kevin Steen for a chat. Lethal is surprised that Steen came out here but isn’t surprised that he came out here with his lackeys (including Rhino, who has joined the team). He wants another title shot but Corino thinks Lethal’s mother would have raised him better than that. It was Lethal’s father who threw a drink on Steen to set everything off.

Steen takes the mic from Corino but Lethal calls him a vile human and disgusting human being. For some reason, Steen wants to destroy the company because of some grudge but Lethal is more about honor than anyone else. If Steen wants to destroy everything, he has to beat Lethal, or he isn’t s***. Jacobs and Corino say it isn’t happening but Steen heads to the apron and says he accepts.

Video on Lethal vs. Steen, which is Ring of Honor vs. SCUM. During the buildup, Steen even prevented SCUM from beating Lethal down because he was much happier now that Jim Cornette was gone. Who got rid of Cornette? Jay Lethal of course. Steen decided he cared about this company but Lethal didn’t buy any of it.

From the 11^th Anniversary Show (March 2, 2013).

Ring of Honor World Title: Kevin Steen vs. Jay Lethal

Date: March 2, 2013

Location: Frontier Fieldhouse, Chicago Ridge, Illinois

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Caleb Seltzer

Steen is defending and there are no seconds. They slug it out immediately and the fight is on the floor in a hurry. Steen gets whipped into the barricade but comes back with shots to the face. That earns him another shot into the barricade as they keep going around the ring. This time it’s Lethal going into the barricade so Steen can send him inside. A quick dropkick gives Lethal two and another sends Steen into the corner as he can’t do much when they get down to the wrestling.

Lethal’s basement dropkick gets two and he sends Steen to the apron for a triangle dropkick. Two suicide dives connect but the third is countered into the apron bomb to give Steen his first control. Steen crotches him against the post and the taunting is on in a hurry. Choking on the rope gets two but the Swanton hits raised knees. A Backstabber drops Steen for two but he’s right back with the pumphandle brainbuster onto the knee for the same.

The Cannonball misses though and Lethal grabs a belly to back neckbreaker for two more. The ref gets bumped and, of course, the Lethal Injection connects two seconds later. Cue Jacobs and Corino to beat Lethal down, including a spike cradle piledriver to give Steen two. Jacobs decks the referee again but here’s Nigel McGuinness to cut Corino off. Nigel scares Corino to the back and Lethal kicks Jacobs to the floor.

That leaves Lethal and Steen to slug it out until Lethal hits a pair of scary looking release dragon suplexes for two. Steen’s pop up powerbomb gets the same but Lethal is right back with a Koji Clutch to put Steen in real trouble. A rope is grabbed so they head to the apron and it’s the F Cinc through the announcers’ table to destroy Lethal again.

Lethal is on the way back in and beats the count despite Jacobs grabbing his leg. The package piledriver gives Steen two and he tells Jacobs to get out of here. A heck of a clothesline blasts Lethal and they’re both down again. Lethal heads up top and hammers Steen down but Hail to the King is broken up. Instead, Steen grabs a Brainbusterrrrr (or however El Generico spelled his version onto the top turnbuckle) to retain at 20:47.

Rating: B. This was a good job of giving us a big showdown for the title and advancing Steen’s issues with SCUM. Steen is turning into the anti-hero and that could make for some interesting material going forward. On the other hand, Lethal has gone from some young guy who feels in over his head to someone who feels like a serious challenger to the World Title. Good match here and it felt like the major fight they were shooting for the whole time.

Post match Steen looks calm but here are Jacobs and Rhino to take out Lethal again. The Briscoes run in for the save but get taken down as well. Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander run in as well but here’s former ROH star Jimmy Rave, in a SCUM shirt, to take care of them as well. Now it’s BJ Whitmer and Rhett Titus coming in with the former going after Rave. Titus dropkicks Whitmer though and reveals his own SCUM shirt.

Michael Elgin comes in this time and goes after SCUM but Cliff Compton (Domino of Deuce N Domino) with powder to blind Elgin. Steen gets up and looks confused as Elgin is handcuffed to the corner. We’re still not done as the Wolves (Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards) run in to fight SCUM but the numbers get the better of it and the team starts tying everyone to the ropes. Adam Cole comes in (looking about 14 years old) and can’t do much either.

Matt Hardy comes in and he’s SCUM too as the huge beatdown continues. Steen is down on the floor watching now (he hasn’t done anything physical since the match ended) but Corino grabs the mic to say evil is here. This is the evolution of SCUM and the destruction of Ring of Honor. Corino praises Steen as the King of SCUM, Ring of Honor and professional wrestling because the vision has always been the same: bring suffering, chaos, ugliness and mayhem (the first time the acronym has been explained on the DVD) to this company.

They hold up an ROH banner as Steen gets in the ring and Corino introduces the (several) new members. Jacobs pulls out his spike and stabs the banner, which is torn to pieces. Corino declares war on ROH but it won’t last long because tonight, honor has died. The team poses, with Steen looking on from the side, to end the show after a very big and very long angle.

Disc 2

From ROH TV, March 16, 2013.

Nigel McGuinness is in the ring with a bunch of the roster on the apron. Nigel, holding the torn banner: “S*** just got real.” It’s time for ROH to fight because SCUM has started a way. They are still united and still believe in this company. Steve Corino said three things: SCUM will go down in history as the company who killed Ring of Honor, that there are no credible contenders to Kevin Steen and that honor is dead. Look at all of these people around the ring and you’ll know honor isn’t dead.

There are plenty of credible contenders, like Adam Cole, who will be getting a World Title shot. He has defended the TV Title with honor and next week he’ll be facing Matt Hardy with the winner getting a TV Title shot. Then there’s BJ Whitmer, who is getting a title shot as well. As for Jay Lethal and Michael Elgin, they can face off at Supercard of Honor with the winner getting a title shot. Roderick Strong jumps up on the ropes but Nigel says this isn’t the time for fun and games. They’ll talk about this in the back.

That brings him to the Briscoe Brothers, who are the pioneers around here. Mark Briscoe is getting a title shot in two weeks in Ashville, North Carolina. Then there’s Jay Briscoe, whose arm is in a sling. He gets in the ring and says he’ll fight with one arm if he has to though because he only needs one chance. Nigel grants him the title match at Supercard of Honor. As for tonight, SCUM is banned from the building, but that will change next week. The roster gets in the ring and Nigel says they aren’t running and hiding from SCUM.

From ROH TV, March 23, 2013.

Veda Scott (lawyer/manager) and Grizzly Redwood (short guy with a big beard) are in the ring to interview Mike Mondo, who has been out of action with an injury for four months. Mondo was supposed to be out for a year and cut that down for four months because he’s in Beast Mode every day. He has no fear….and here’s SCUM to beat the guys down. Corino asks if this is what Nigel wanted as Compton grabs Veda.

BJ Whitmer and some other wrestlers come out but Corino says Compton will end Scott if they take one more step. Nigel can come out here to talk face to face, because Corino wants a SCUM show next week. Nigel does come out and makes ROH vs. SCUM next week, so prepare for h***.

From ROH TV, March 23, 2013.

We see the end of Matt Hardy vs. Adam Cole, with Hardy pulling the floor mats back but having the Twist of Fate countered into a suplex. Rhino Gored Cole down so Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman ran in for the DQ.

The big brawl is on with both factions running in for the fight.

From ROH TV, March 30, 2013.

Here’s Kevin Steen to get things going but Jay Briscoe, still in a sling, cuts him off before anything can be said. Briscoe talks about how this company has been his life for eleven years and now SCUM is talking about wanting to kill it. That sounds like threatening his livelihood and that isn’t a good idea. Before Steen can say anything, here’s Corino to say how dare Briscoe disrespect the World Champion.

Briscoe wants to hear from the champ himself so Steen says he’s glad both Briscoes are getting the title shot. Steen: “In New York City, we’ll see who the b**** is, b****.” Steen leaves and Corino laughs at Briscoe, who pulls out a metal rod. Corino realizes no one else is here so SCUM comes in….and we take a break.

From ROH TV, March 30, 2013.

Rhett Titus/Cliff Compton vs. C&C Wrestle Factory

Date: March 30, 2013

Location: Frontier Fieldhouse, Chicago Ridge, Illinois

Commentators: Caleb Seltzer, Kevin Kelly

This starts with Coleman and Alexander running in to save Briscoe so maybe we’re getting the full episode here. Coleman takes Titus into the corner to start and Alexander springboards in with an elbow for two. Cedric fights out of the SCUM corner but Compton pulls him down for a crotching against the post. Titus drops him ribs first across the top rope so Compton can hit a top rope elbow to the back. A boot scrape in the corner has Alexander down and it’s off to a chinlock.

That’s broken up though and Cedric gets in a shot to the face, allowing the roll into a hot tag to Coleman. We take a break and come back with Titus breaking up a dive but tossing Coleman over the top….right onto Compton. Well to be fair, they haven’t been partners that long. Coleman’s guillotine legdrop gets two but cue Jimmy Rave to shove Cedric off the top (for a NASTY landing on the apron. Jimmy Jacobs comes out and slips Compton some powder to blind Coleman and Titus adds a dropkick for the pin at 10:11.

Rating: C-. This was fine and a good example of how SCUM can cheat to win with the numbers advantage. It’s not like Alexander and Coleman lose anything after this much cheating. Not a good match but Coleman and Alexander were a good team when they got to face the right opponents. I’m not sure they had that chance here.

From ROH TV, March 30, 2013.

Jimmy Jacobs vs. Mike Mondo

Date: March 30, 2013

Location: Frontier Fieldhouse, Chicago Ridge, Illinois

Commentators: Caleb Seltzer, Kevin Kelly

Sweet goodness this company loves alliteration. This picks up right after the previous match as well with Mondo running in for the save and the bell ringing. Mondo fights off Rave and avoids a dive from Jacobs, setting up a running corkscrew dive of his own. Back in and Jacobs gets in a kick to the face but Mondo catches him on top and unloads with kicks to the ribs.

We take a break and come back with Jacobs catches him on top but getting headbutted right back down. Jacobs knocks him down from the top to the floor though in a big crash. A running elbow from the apron to the….well some part of Mondo but it worked anyway. Jacobs puts him in a chair and hits a suicide dive to crush them both. Mondo is right back up and trips Jacobs off the apron.

Back in and Jacobs flips out of what looked like a tiger bomb and grabs a guillotine choke. That’s reversed with a northern lights suplex but Jacobs is right back with the guillotine. Mondo breaks that up and blocks the Contra Code so they go to an exchange of rollups with Jacobs grabbing the rope for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: C. Mondo is someone that Cornette raves about as an underrated talent but there is only so much that you can get out of him when he used to be in the Spirit Squad. He looked good here, but Ring of Honor isn’t supposed to win these matches. What we got was good enough though and Mondo looked solid even in defeat.

From ROH TV, March 30, 2013.

Corino presents Inside SCUM (instead of Inside ROH), starting off with a look at Rhett Titus. ROH has overlooked Titus several times now and he has no faith in the company. He’s found acceptance in SCUM though and that’s to their benefit. Then there’s Cliff Compton, who has never gotten a chance in ROH because Cornette wouldn’t give him a chance. It was always next time, but now it’s his time.

Next up is Jimmy Rave, who has been very successful in ROH and has beaten his personal demons so he can be back where he belongs. Matt Hardy has been screwed over by ROH despite his star power. Eight years ago, Matt yelled RING OF HONOR on Monday Night Raw but he still can’t get any respect. These men plus the rest of the group are wrestling’s worst nightmare and on April 5, Steen is defeating Jay Briscoe like he does to everyone else.

We go to Steen, who says he doesn’t care about what SCUM is planning. What matters to him is Steen vs. Briscoe at Supercard of Honor. Steen knows how tough Briscoe is….and Corino says get the camera back on him to wrap it up in a hurry. Corino yells at the production staff for playing the wrong music.

Steve Corino/Matt Hardy/Rhino vs. Jay Lethal/BJ Whitmer/Michael Elgin

Date: March 30, 2013

Location: Frontier Fieldhouse, Chicago Ridge, Illinois

Commentators: Caleb Seltzer, Kevin Kelly

Apparently Corino is replacing Steen here because the team is already 2-0. Corino is wrestling in a suit and tapes his wrists on the way to the ring. With the other four fighting on the floor, Corino stops to offer Lethal a SCUM shirt, which goes as well as you would expect. Lethal even takes Corino’s glasses off to stomp on them, which is rather evil indeed. Elgin and Hardy take their places in the ring and the delayed suplex drops Matt. Now it’s Lethal coming in with a handspring elbow to rock Rhino and a springboard missile dropkick gets two.

Back from a break with Lethal hitting a suicide dive to take out more members of SCUM who aren’t involved in the match. The numbers game starts getting the better of the ROH guys and it’s time to zip tie Elgin and Lethal to the ropes. That leaves Whitmer to get triple teamed but he somehow gets in a spinebuster to Rhino. An exploder suplex sends Rave flying but a Corino distraction lets Rhino hit the Gore. Matt adds the Twist of Fate for the pin at 11:40.

Rating: C. This was more of an angle than a match and that’s not a bad thing. The whole show has been about SCUM dominating and taking over the company even more than they already had and that’s what they did here again. It was a nice brawl while it lasted though and Lethal continues to look like a star, which is the secondary point of the whole thing.

Post match Lethal and Elgin get loose and fight SCUM off. Jay Briscoe comes out and promises he’ll lose the sling while Steen loses the belt.

From Supercard of Honor VII (April 5, 2013).

SCUM vs. Mark Briscoe/BJ Whitmer/C&C Wrestle Factory/Mike Mondo

Date: April 5, 2013

Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York

Commentators: Caleb Seltzer, Kevin Kelly

It’s Compton/Jacobs/Rave/Titus/Rhino with Corino sitting in on commentary. This is an impromptu match after SCUM attacked Lethal and Elgin to break up their #1 contenders match. The big brawl is on before the bell with ROH getting the better of things to start. Everyone brawls on the floor with Seltzer snapping on Corino early on.

We finally settle down to Rave slugging Mondo into the corner so the villains can take over. Rhino hits the running shoulder in the ribs and Titus rubs Mondo’s face in the mat. Corino goes into a rant about how horrible the ROH guys are, including calling Cedric and Caprice the “black version of the Midnight Rockers.” Titus sends Mondo into Compton’s boot and we get a DEUCE WAS BETTER chant. This is likely the only time Deuce has ever received a chant in wrestling history.

Mondo slips between Rave’s legs, realizes he’s gone to the wrong corner, and rolls over to the right corner for the tag to Whitmer. Everything breaks down for a bit with the Factory hitting stereo dives, followed by Briscoe hitting a big springboard flip dive for a bonus. Titus beats on Whitmer and hits a running Fameasser from behind. Compton gives Caprice a Falcon Arrow but Cedric kicks him down. Corino: “HE’S A MOVE STEALER!!! HE STOLE THAT FROM STRONG!!!”.

Jacobs gives Cedric a Pedigree but gets dropped by Mondo. Rhino runs Mondo over but Briscoe shotgun dropkicks him into the corner. They’re taken down as well, leaving us with Whitmer sending Rave to the floor for a heck of a suicide dive. Corino gets off commentary and slaps Seltzer, so Whitmer makes the save.

Whitmer goes after Corino but gets grabbed by Rhino and Jacobs. He’s fine enough to spit at Corino but Titus comes back in for a dropkick. That’s enough for Whitmer to be cuffed to the rope and Jacobs throws powder in Mondo’s eyes. Corino gets back on commentary as Coleman hits a nasty piledriver on Rave. Rhino Gores him down though and Coleman is done at 11:14.

Rating: C+. This got better at the end and they were smart to keep it a little shorter. A big ten man match like this can get a little long winded at times so it was a good move to make it feel like a TV match. SCUM continues to dominate, but at some point ROH is going to have to pick up an important win.

Post match Corino brags about how awesome they are and promises to win their other matches tonight.

From Supercard of Honor VII (April 5, 2013).

We see the end of Kevin Steen vs. Jay Briscoe for the World Title, with the Briscoe family and some ROH wrestlers coming out to prevent SCUM from interfering. Briscoe kicked out of the package piledriver and here’s SCUM for the big brawl in the aisle. Matt Hardy snuck in from the other side but Steen broke up the Twist of Fate and threw him outside.

Steen kicked out of the Jay Driller and Nigel McGuinness is LOSING IT on commentary. Jay fought out of the Crossface and hit another Jay Driller to win, with Nigel literally jumping around ringside in celebration before coming back to commentary. Of all the things on this set, they couldn’t air THIS match in full? The set is looking to be close to ten hours long and you cut the major turning point? After airing the ten man tag in full? Weird choice there.

Post match Jay’s dad, his brother, Nigel and others got in the ring to celebrate. Jay grabs the mic but Steen gets back up and, after listening to the THAT WAS AWESOME and THANK YOU STEEN chants, drops the mic and shakes Jay’s hand. Steen leaves and Jay says tonight, SCUM dies and honor lives.

From ROH TV, April 20, 2013.

Here’s Steen for a chat, but first we need some THANK YOU KEVIN chants. Corino cuts him off though, saying Steen hasn’t been around for a bit so this is how they have to talk. He knows how hard it was to lose the World Title but the mission to kill Ring of Honor is still intact. Steen says Corino has been talking about the plan for over a year but now that Jim Cornette is gone, Ring of Honor doesn’t need to be put out of its misery. Right now, the only mission in Steen’s head is getting another World Title shot.

Cue SCUM to interrupt to surround the ring, as Corino suggests that it’s time for a new star of the team. The camera pans over to Matt Hardy but Steen says he’ll follow Corino through a lot. One part that he can’t get behind though is this mother ****** Matt Hardy. That’s too far for Corino so maybe it’s time he and Steen go their separate ways. SCUM gets in the ring and Steen says there are two ways they can do this.

Either they can walk away, or the people in the ring can start something they’re going to regret. Corino picks option two so the fight is on in a hurry. Hardy is held back by Corino as the beatdown is on, drawing out security and referees for a failed save attempt. Corino tells SCUM to step back and tells Matt to do his work. That would be a Twist of Fate and Steen is left laying. They had been building that for a long time so the turn not only makes sense but has been well set up. Nice job.

From ROH TV, April 20, 2013.

We see the end of Jorge Santi vs. Tadarius Thomas as SCUM runs in for the big beatdown. Corino says that the mission is still the same, even without Steen. After what happened earlier though, you’ll probably never see Steen again so it doesn’t matter anyway. Cue Nigel McGuinness to say Corino should shut up because SCUM is dissolving into the grave. Corino says he created and destroyed Steen so the mission continues.

Nigel brings out Jay Lethal and Michael Elgin and tells them to get out of the ring. Corino: “You don’t tell god what to do Nigel.” They do need the World Title back, so his spiritual son will become the next and final Ring of Honor World Champion. Corino is willing to sweeten the pot though: if the team gets one shot and loses, he’ll leave Ring of Honor. He knows Nigel won’t accept it though because he remembers Nigel as World Champion. The truth is that Nigel thinks a lot of himself and didn’t know why the fans booed him when he was World Champion.

Nigel shrugs that off and makes the match: Elgin/Lethal vs. any two members of the team at Border Wars. If SCUM wins, they get the World Title shot but if ROH wins, SCUM is done. Corino: “No deal.” He wants one more thing: if SCUM wins, he gets the vacant commentary spot next to Kevin Kelly, completely uncensored. Nigel takes off his jacket, slowly gets in the ring, and says he’ll see Corino at Border Wars. Corino says he’ll see him next week.

From Border Wars 2013 (May 4, 2013 in Toronto, mislabeled as March 30, 2013 in Chicago on the DVD).

Michael Elgin/Jay Lethal vs. Cliff Compton/Jimmy Jacobs

Date: May 4, 2013

Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

This is immediately after SCUM interfered in a BJ Whitmer vs. Rhett Titus I Quit match so we start in a hurry with Titus still zip tied to the top rope. Lethal superkicks him before the four people actually in the match head outside where Elgin chokes Compton with a chair. SCUM gets beaten up some more as Titus is finally cut away from the ropes. Compton gets sent hard into the barricade and Elgin adds a running boot to send him into the crowd.

We finally settle down to Lethal vs. Jacobs in the ring for a chop off with Lethal getting the better of it. Elgin comes in for the very delayed vertical suplex on Jacobs, holding him up for 38 seconds, doing some squats, and then suplexing him down after another nine seconds. Lethal comes in for his hiptoss into a basement dropkick but Jacobs gets smart by going to the eyes.

It’s back to Compton, who is taken straight down by the handspring elbow. Elgin suplexes the much bigger Compton as well and holds him up, with Lethal adding his own delayed suplex on Jacobs for a nice visual. A backsplash gets two on Elgin but Compton knees Lethal in the face. It’s still too early for SCUM to take over though as Elgin tags himself in for a torture rack neckbreaker on Compton.

Everything breaks down again and Lethal hits a suicide dive on Jacobs, only to come up holding his knee. Elgin plants Compton with a spinning Boss Man Slam but Elgin goes outside to check on Lethal. Nigel goes over as well as SCUM demands they be awarded the win. Elgin is ready to fight n his own and throws Jacobs and Compton down. Jacobs gets powerbombed into Compton in the corner and it’s a Samoan drop to Compton with a fall away slam to Jacobs at the same time (that’s insane).

Back up, Compton gets in a shot in the corner and the clubberin is on (Corino: “YOU ASKED FOR IT! YOU ASKED FOR IT!”). Jacobs hits a DDT and mocks Elgin’s lack of a partner. Compton drops a leg and grabs a headscissors but Elgin stands up and tosses him to the floor. It’s back to Jacobs for a sleeper and Compton comes back in, meaning Elgin German suplexes Compton while dropping Jacobs onto his back for the three way knockdown.

Cue Kevin Steen to stand on the apron but Elgin won’t tag him. Nigel tells him to do it so Elgin goes with it. House is cleaned in a hurry, including back to back Cannonballs. There’s the apron bomb to Jacobs and Elgin’s buckle bomb makes it worse. Compton breaks up the Elgin Bomb so Steen gives him the pop up powerbomb (more like a spinebuster here but close enough). The package piledriver is loaded up on Compton but Jacobs grabs a fast rollup to pin Steen at 20:08.

Rating: B. This felt a bit like the Outsiders vs. the NWO at Bash at the Beach 1996 for a bit with the injury, though it was quite the different ending. You knew they weren’t going to have ROH win here as they can’t go with the faces winning with a 3-2 advantage. Steen taking the fall makes things even worse for him as they can now blame him for not getting rid of SCUM, thereby allowing him to need to do even more to redeem himself. Good match here though and it felt big, even though it was on the first half of the show.

From ROH TV, May 18, 2013.

Corino comes out with Jacobs to introduce himself as the new color commentator and promises that a member of the team will become the new, and final, World Champion. Cue Jay Lethal, still limping from Border Wars, to interrupt. Lethal says it was a bad idea to let Steen join the team at Border Wars because no one knows where his loyalty lies. For now though, it’s time to fight Jacobs…who pulls him down by the leg to start things in a hurry.

Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jay Lethal

Date: May 18, 2013

Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino

Jacobs sends the bad leg into the apron and we start in a hurry. Lethal slugs away with right hands to get a breather, only to have the knee sent into the barricade. They get inside for the first time with Jacobs staying on the leg (well duh) as Corino declares that Lethal is in fact an African American. Lethal manages a basement dropkick for two so Jacobs starts crawling around to make Lethal chase him. That works just fine for Lethal, who grabs a DDT.

The Lethal Injection takes too long though and Jacobs ties the leg in the rope to stomp away. Back from a break with Lethal caught in a leglock. That’s broken up in a hurry though and Lethal hammers away. Jacobs is right back with a DDT on the leg but the Figure Four is quickly countered. Lethal chops away but the leg gives out on a superkick attempt. The Lethal Combination works though but the Lethal Injection doesn’t work either. Jacobs hits the Contra Code for the pin at 12:26.

Rating: B-. The story was right there throughout and that’s always a good thing to see. It gives SCUM another win and Lethal stays safe, with the bad leg costing Lethal in the end. This was a fun one and while I’m not usually big on Jacobs, he was nearly perfect in his role here. Lethal is looking more and more like a star every time though, and that’s going to serve him well in the future.

From ROH TV, May 18, 2013.

Adam Cole vs. Kevin Steen

Date: May 18, 2013

Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino

Feeling out process to start but Cole forearms his way out of the corner. Steen runs him over without much effort and a headbutt drops Cole in the corner. They head outside with Cole missing the slingshot dive and getting sent into the barricade for more pain. Three straight apron bombs look to end Cole (Corino: “WHERE IS THE TWENTY COUNT???”) but Steen goes after Corino instead, allowing Cole to dropkick the knee (because you can be up forty five seconds after three apron bombs) and we take a break.

Back with Cole kneeing him in the face for two but Steen slugs away. The knee holds up well enough for a powerbomb for a very delayed two and they’re both down. Cole gets up with a nasty German suplex into a Shining Wizard but the Figure Four is blocked. Instead it’s the Sharpshooter (you can imagine Corino’s reaction), sending Steen straight to the rope. The F Cinc gets two so here’s Compton, who is quickly dispatched. Steen grabs the Sharpshooter but another Compton distraction lets Jacobs come in with a chain shot (which Cole clearly sees). Cole’s Florida Keys (arm trap German suplex) is good for the pin at 14:00.

Rating: C. The three straight apron bombs being just a moment in the middle of the match wasn’t a good idea but at least they did something else near the end. Cole is someone else who is starting to rise up the ranks and that’s a great thing to see. Ring of Honor is the kind of place that needs to develop new talent in a hurry and that’s what they seem to be doing here. Nice match, but not exactly great.

From ROH TV, May 25, 2013.

Nigel McGuinness is announcing the Best in the World main event when Steen comes in to ask about his rematch for the World Title. That won’t be anytime soon after Steen messed up at Border Wars so maybe he’s still working with SCUM. Steen says not exactly, and offers to fight all of them in exchange for a title shot. Nigel agrees, but Steen has to beat them all.

From Dragon’s Reign (May 11, 2013)

Rhett Titus runs out and interrupts a match between two guys making their in-ring debuts for the company (one of which is future World Champion Dalton Castle). Cue Steen in a hurry and we’re ready to go.

Kevin Steen vs. Rhett Titus

Date: May 11, 2013

Location: Rostraver Ice Gardens, Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino

Steen slugs away and sends Titus to the floor before the music even stops. Titus is sent into the barricade a few times and there’s a Cannonball to make it worse. The fans are WAY into Steen here but the delay lets Titus get up and send him into the barricade to even things up a bit. Owens is right back up with a pair of crotches against the post, drawing a YES chant.

The apron bomb is countered with a ram into the barricade though and they head back inside. Titus whips him into the corner but Steen is right back with a backsplash. That doesn’t get him very far though as Titus sends it back into the corner and kicks Steen’s head against the post. It’s time to choke on the ropes but Steen kicks him away. After relieving his nose on Corino, Steen gets taken back down for a double arm crank.

Steen fights up and runs him over again though and the Swanton gets two as the audio and video are a little out of sync. Titus is back with the running jumping Fameasser (ala Kenny Omega) for his own two. A frog splash to the back gets two more but Steen is back with the pop up powerbomb for the same. Neither of Steen’s finishers can hit and he almost runs over the referee, allowing Titus to kick him low for two. Steen crotches him in the corner (that’s three for Titus) and gets in a low blow of his own. The package piledriver finishes Titus at 13:46. Corino: “THIS MATCH IS UNDER PROTEST!”

Rating: C. They’re doing an interesting idea here with Steen having to run through the entire time. It’s been done before (Big Boss Man vs. the Heenan Family comes to mind) but that doesn’t mean it’s a boring idea. Steen had to start somewhere and Titus is a low enough name to have Steen run through him in a hurry.

Post match Steen leaves but comes back in for another low blow and package piledriver.

From Relentless (May 18, 2013).

Corino interrupts an announcement and tells the people to let everyone know about this: Matt Hardy is getting his World Title shot on June 23 at the TV tapings in Baltimore. That’s not all though because Corino wants to go all in. At the TV tapings: five members of SCUM vs. five members of Ring of Honor. If ROH wins, SCUM is gone, but if SCUM wins, Corino runs Ring of Honor. Twelve years ago he helped kill a company and now he’s going to do it again.

From Relentless (May 18, 2013).

Kevin Steen vs. Jimmy Jacobs

Date: May 18, 2013

Location: Greater Richmond Convention Center, Richmond, Virginia

Commentators: Joe Dombrowski, Steve Corino

They slug it out in the aisle to start with Steen whipping him into the barricade. More whips into the barricade ensue and they head inside for the opening bell. A clothesline takes Jacobs right back outside and there’s another whip into the barricade as Corino makes fun of French. Back in again and Jacobs busts out a chain to choke away and that’s a DQ at 1:02.

Post match security comes in but Steen gets up and wrecks Jacobs again. Steen swings a chair at everyone before saying he knew this is how it would wind up going. Jacobs is FINALLY ready to be a man so let’s do this again, No DQ. The referee grabs a phone and hears from Nigel McGuinness that we’re restarting the match. Steen goes outside to beat up the interfering Rhett Titus and there are some shoes to Jacobs’ head.

Jacobs gets in a low blow with the rope though and there’s a spear on the apron (Joe: “That’s the hardest part of the wrestling ring!” I didn’t realize that line was that old.). Back in and Jacobs stomps and elbows at the ribs before ripping at the eyes. Jacobs chokes with the chain as Corino shouts about breaking up with Steen. The choking is broken up and Steen takes it to the floor for the apron bomb.

The Swanton gets two but Jacobs is back with a springboard cutter for two. A quick Contra Code onto a chair gives Jacobs two so he unloads with the chair and grabs a piece of the barricade. That takes too long though and Steen gets in a chain shot, followed by the F Cinc for two. Corino: “YOU CAN’T WIN WITH THAT MOVE ANYMORE STEEN!” The package piledriver is reversed with Steen’s head bouncing off of the barricade but Jacobs can’t hit a chair shot. Instead Steen kicks him low and hits the package piledriver onto the barricade for the pin at 14:55 (counting the break between falls).

Rating: C+. They had a good brawl here and the No DQ deal made it better. You can only get so much out of a big name like Steen vs. someone like Jacobs on its own so adding the stipulation helped. If nothing else, this made me want to see Steen FINALLY get his hands on Corino, which has to be coming at some point in this right?

Post match, Steen hits the F Cinc onto an open chair and blows a kiss to Corino.

Disc 3

From Honor in the Heart of Texas (June 1, 2013).

Michael Elgin/BJ Whitmer vs. Rhett Titus/Jimmy Jacobs

Date: June 1, 2013

Location: San Antonio Shrine Auditorium, San Antonio, Texas

Commentator: Kevin Kelly

Anything goes and Texas Tornado rules. The fight starts outside before the bell, as you probably guessed. Elgin is whipped into the barricade but Whitmer rams their heads together to slow them down. Jacobs gets thrown into the trash as Whitmer and Titus fight on the other side of the building. Kelly: “This one is not Funk and Brisco!”. Well maybe Funk but probably not Brisco.

Elgin throws Titus onto a table, sending it sliding across the floor in a cool visual. A chair to the ribs hunches Jacobs over and Elgin backbreakers him onto said chair. They actually head to ringside for a change with SCUM getting Elgin alone for a double delayed vertical suplex. Elgin pops back up (I’m as surprised as you are) and this time it’s Elgin and Whitmer hitting a delayed vertical suplex of their own for a pretty nasty crash.

Whitmer grabs the exploder suplex on Jacobs and Elgin launches Titus into the corner for two. Titus is back with a dropkick to Whitmer and Jacobs dives over the top to take Elgin down again. That doesn’t last long as Elgin slingshots back in with a back elbow to Jacobs but Titus scores with a discus lariat.

We get another Titus vs. Whitmer showdown with Whitmer planting him off a powerslam. A Downward Spiral/DDT combination takes SCUM down and Elgin is back in to make it even worse. There’s a pump kick to Titus and Elgin powerbombs Jacobs onto Whitmer’s knees for two. Elgin gets crotched on top though and an assisted splash gets two on Whitmer. Titus heads outside to pull back some mats but Elgin breaks up a piledriver on the concrete.

The apron superplex brings Titus back in for two with Jacobs making the save this time. Jacobs grabs a middle rope springboard cutter on Elgin, who pops back up for a spinning backfist. The buckle bomb connects but the Elgin Bomb is countered into a guillotine choke. Whitmer is back in for the save and fisherman’s suplexes Jacobs for two more. Elgin plants both of them for two as frustration is setting in again. The buckle bomb hits Jacobs again but here’s Steve Corino with a chain. Mark Briscoe comes out with a cowbell for the save but Titus gets the chain. Whitmer kicks it away, only to get rolled up for the pin at 19:35.

Rating: B. I got into this more than I would have expected to and that’s a good thing. This was a lot of action throughout the match and while the interference was a bit annoying, that’s what SCUM would do in this situation. Solid match here and the rules played into it well. I could go for more of stuff like this, as the wild brawling feels more appropriate for this feud.

From some undisclosed show.

Nigel McGuinness talks about how serious this is and how Ring of Honor has their chips in with the best of it. Ring of Honor isn’t dying on June 23 because it’s only SCUM’s final chapter. The match is officially on and it’s going to be Steel Cage Warfare. Honor lives mother******.

From Ring of Honor TV, June 8, 2013.

Here’s SCUM to interrupt….well nothing actually but commentary isn’t pleased anyway. Steve Corino talks about all of the mistakes made around here in the last eleven years with all of the people coming and going. Corino blames Nigel for not giving Matt Hardy the World Title shot but Matt will be World Champion anyway. Why weren’t Cliff Compton, Jimmy Jacobs and Rhett Titus in the #1 contenders matches? Nigel takes off his headset but Corino talks about how he should have sued ROH after Border Wars. That’s enough for Nigel to get up and Corino promises to sue if Nigel does anything.

Cue Jay Lethal and the C&C Wrestle Factory so Corino keeps running his mouth and calls them homies. Fans: “THAT WAS RACIST!” The four of them get inside to stare down SCUM and the fight is on with Nigel and Corino going face to face without doing anything. Security breaks things up. If there is ANY possible way for Nigel to get physical, the pop when he uncorked a lariat on Corino would be amazing.

From Live And Let Die (June 8, 2013).

Kevin Steen is in the arena before the fans come in and interviewer Veda Scott asks what the Ring of Honor locker room thinks about him now. Steen says he doesn’t really care because this company makes money off of his name. He is this company but here’s SCUM to interrupt. Corino shouts something I can’t make out as Steen grabs a chair. Some referees (in street clothes for a rare visual) get ready to break it up but Compton wants to fight Steen right now. Cue Jay Lethal, BJ Whitmer and Michael Elgin to even things up as Compton talks enough trash to get a fight going.

Kevin Steen vs. Cliff Compton

Date: June 8, 2013

Location: Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, Ohio

Empty arena match. They head outside early on with both guys being whipped into the barricade. Steen chokes away but nearly gets in a fight with Whitmer, allowing Compton to get in a cheap shot. That doesn’t seem to bother Steen, who whips him HARD into the barricade. They go beyond the barricade with Steen getting backdropped onto some open chairs. Steen pops back up for a kick to the ribs and a big toss through the chairs (how rude to people who set those up).

Some chair shots to the knee keep Compton in trouble but Steen would rather dive onto SCUM than follow up. They get inside for the first time with Compton getting in a cheap shot. Corino throws in a chain so everyone else starts brawling at ringside. There’s the F Cinc onto a chair but Matt Hardy comes in to jump Steen and give Compton the pin at 5:19.

Rating: C. This is the kind of different action that I was hoping for on this thing. It actually felt different and that’s what this has been needing. It was actually unique for a change and the lack of commentary made it more realistic. Given how SCUM comes and goes at will, there is little reason to believe that something like this wouldn’t break out at some point. Not a great match, but it was entertaining enough with the special atmosphere.

SCUM just leaving by walking outside feels so indy. Lethal, Whitmer and Elgin say they came out here to see which side Steen was on and don’t seem pleased by the results. A distraught Steen sits in the ring.

From Live And Let Die (June 8, 2013).

Kevin Steen vs. Rhino

Date: June 8, 2013

Location: Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, Ohio

Commentator: Kevin Kelly

At least this one is scheduled. Steen shoulders him down to start and Rhino is sent outside in a hurry. They both wind up outside with Steen being sent into the barricade and suplexed on the floor. Some right hands get Steen out of trouble and there’s the flip dive off the apron to drop Rhino again. They get back inside with Rhino hitting a spinebuster for two, followed by the knees to the chest.

The bodyscissors goes on and Rhino even rolls him backwards for two. Back up and Steen gets in a shot to the face for a double knockdown. Steen’s dropkick into a middle rope dropkick sets up the Cannonball for two. Steen is surprised by the kickout so he hits the Swanton for two more. Instead it’s a Gore to Rhino for a change and the F Cinc is enough to give Steen the pin at 8:05.

Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this one as Rhino was treated as the monster of the team earlier in the year and now he’s beaten clean in eight minutes. That’s quite the short match and it doesn’t make it seem like Steen had to work too hard to pull off a win here. It’s not the worst, but it felt like a low level challenge instead of some big threat.

Post match here’s Matt Hardy to take Steen out, setting up the following.

From Live And Let Die (June 8, 2013).

Mark Briscoe vs. Matt Hardy

Date: June 8, 2013

Location: Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, Ohio

Commentator: Kevin Kelly

Hardy is in a #1 contenders match at Best in the World while Briscoe is in the World Title match at the same show. Briscoe comes in to jump Hardy and start in a hurry. Matt tries to hide on the floor so Briscoe posts him and goes up top. Corino throws in the microphone and then shoves Briscoe off the top, allowing Matt to hit the Side Effect for two. There’s a swinging neckbreaker to take Briscoe down again so we get the MAN UP chants.

The sleeper/chinlock goes on for two arm drops but Brisco powers up again. That just earns him a trip from Corino and Matt’s neckbreaker gets two more. Mark is up again and this time pulls Corino off the middle rope, meaning it’s time for Red Neck Kung Fu. Some chops to the head get two and a top rope version drops Matt again.

Corino offers a distraction though and Hardy slams Mark off the top. Briscoe is fine enough to grab a choke so here’s Rhett Titus…with Kevin Steen chasing him off immediately. Jimmy Jacobs and Cliff Compton follow Steen out, with the distraction allowing Corino to get in a cheap shot. The Twist of Fate finishes Briscoe at 8:14.

Rating: C. It worked well enough while it lasted and at least Briscoe didn’t lose clean on his way to a World Title shot. They’re getting into a pretty standard formula with SCUM though and that’s not going to work out all that well in the long term. The good thing is that the long term is likely finishing in less than two months, though I’m starting to roll my eyes every time it’s more interference for the SCUM win.

Post match the beatdown is on so Steen makes the save. As has been the case before, let’s go straight to the next match.

From Live And Let Die (June 8, 2013).

SCUM vs. Michael Elgin/Jay Lethal/BJ Whitmer

Date: June 8, 2013

Location: Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, Ohio

Commentator: Kevin Kelly

Anything goes and it’s Jimmy Jacobs/Cliff Compton/Rhett Titus for the team. It’s a brawl to start as the ring announcer tries to get the entrances. SCUM hits a triple suplex but the ROH guys are right back up for the delayed triple verticals. It’s already time to go outside with Lethal suicide diving onto Jacobs. Elgin beats Compton up the aisle as Corino is losing his mind at ringside.

Compton fights back near the entrance as the other four brawl nearby. Lethal and Jacobs finally get back in the ring but Titus makes the save and clotheslines Lethal outside. Titus walks into Whitmer’s suplex but here’s Compton to take him down in a hurry. One heck of a discus forearm sends Compton off the apron and his partners can’t quite catch him. Jacobs can’t hit the Contra Code off the apron to Elgin but they fall onto the pile anyway.

Back in and Jacobs hits the middle rope cutter on Lethal before going up top. A top rope backsplash….is pulled out of the air by Elgin. That’s just insane power and sets up a powerbomb for two with Titus and Compton making the save. Elgin doesn’t like that and suplexes both of them at the same time.

Jacobs comes back in with a chair to Elgin, followed by a reverse hurricanrana to Whitmer. Lethal is back in with a Downward Spiral/DDT combination to Jacobs and Titus. The Lethal Injection to Compton is broken up with a chair to the back though and Compton hits an F6 for the pin at 9:21.

Rating: C-. The action here worked but these matches are starting to bleed together. There’s only so much that can be gained from all of these matches that you see with some combination of the same handful of ROH guys vs. the same SCUM soldiers. They’re not bad matches, but I feel like I’ve seen these things time after time now.

Elgin is TICKED about the loss.

From Best In The World 2013 (June 22, 2013).

We recap Kevin Steen vs. Matt Hardy. Steen got thrown out of SCUM as Steve Corino seemed to be willing to get rid of him now that Hardy was here. Steen has tried to help in the war against SCUM but hasn’t quite pulled it off yet. He has to beat everyone in SCUM to get his title rematch and this is his big showdown, though he is still somewhat untrustworthy.

Kevin Steen vs. Matt Hardy

Date: June 22, 2013

Location: Du Burns Arena, Baltimore, Maryland

Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

Steve Corino is here with Hardy and rants about how Baltimore loves false heroes. Hardy on the other hand is an icon and has over 800,000 Twitter followers. Corino yells at some fans and they throw toilet paper back at Hardy. We get the full intro from Corino, including saying that Hardy is a beautiful man. Steen’s entrance gets a ton of streamers but hang on because he wants this to be No DQ. Nigel says game on and Steen accuses Matt of being the bigger coward of the Hardy brothers.

We’re on in a hurry with Steen pounding him down in the corner, only to have Hardy pull the referee in front of the Cannonball. That’s enough of a distraction so Hardy can start working on the leg. Steen uses the good leg to kick him to the floor, allowing Steen to yell at a fan before chopping Matt against the barricade. Some crutch shots to the back have Matt in more trouble and Steen picks up a sign in his name to punch Hardy.

There’s a crotching against the post as the fans are WAY into Steen here. Hardy finally sends him back into the barricade and it’s time for a trashcan inside. A pair of neckbreakers plant Steen but he sends Hardy hard into the corner for the Cannonball. The Cannonball into the trashcan into Hardy gets two and it’s time to set up a table at ringside. That takes too much time so Hardy grabs the Side Effect for two more.

Steen fights back on the apron, drawing out Jimmy Jacobs to get rid of the table before a package piledriver can connect. Instead, Jacobs gets powerbombed onto the apron so here’s Compton to chair Steen down. Back in and Hardy hits him in the face with a ladder but Steen grabs a Codebreaker to send the ladder into Hardy’s face for two.

Thankfully that hurts Steen’s knee and the delay lets the Twist of Fate give Hardy two more. The low blow into the F Cinc drops Hardy for another near fall. Matt gets in his own low blow this time, setting up the Side Effect onto a chair. Compton throws in some more chairs and it’s a Twist of Fate through said chairs to finish Steen at 14:10.

Rating: B-. This felt like a big match though Steen losing feels rather flat. At the same time though, Hardy was kicking out of Steen’s big stuff so it does give him some credibility rather than just coasting on his reputation. Steen’s path forward almost has to lead to the big save in Steel Cage Warfare, but you never can tell around here. That’s a good thing too, especially in this situation.

Post match the beatdown stays on and no one comes out for the save.

From Ring of Honor TV, July 6, 2013.

We see a clip of Jay Briscoe after he survived against Mark Briscoe at Best In The World.

Nigel is in the ring and talks about how Best In The World reminded him why he loved this business. You had two people who helped build this company fighting to determine who was the best man. They did everyone proud (Kevin Kelly: “Amen.” Steve Corino: “Shut up.”) but the question now is how much do you have left.

The point is that both Briscoes are banged up with Jay having hurt his shoulder and Mark having suffered a concussion (Kelly to Corino: “Stop clapping.”). Therefore, Mark is out of Steel Cage Warfare, meaning we need a replacement. The fans want Steen….and here he comes, much to Corino’s fear. Steen gets straight to the point: put him in Steel Cage Warfare.

Nigel isn’t sure because he’s not wild on trusting the man who started SCUM in the first place. Steen is here for payback and to beat them up so now he can finish this. Steen: “So grow a pair and put me in the G** d*** match!” Cue SCUM to go after Steen so here are BJ Whitmer, Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal for the save. Security breaks it up as Corino looks worried.

From Ring of Honor TV, July 20, 2013.

SCUM is in their limo, as paid for by Hardy, on their way to the arena. They are ready to pay him back for everything by making him World Champion. They’re closer to him than his own brother.

We see SCUM arriving at the arena with Matt offering to buy pro-Steen signs and cutting promos on fans. Corino: “IMAGINE THE DRUGS YOU CAN BUY WITH EIGHTY BUCKS!” The fan won’t budge so Rhett Titus rips it up for him.

Ring of Honor World Title: Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Hardy

Date: July 20, 2013

Location: Du Burns Arena, Baltimore, Maryland

Commentator: Kevin Kelly

Briscoe is defending with a bad shoulder and Corino is here with Hardy. Corino handles Hardy’s introductions, including saying he can walk on water. They lock up to start with Matt wisely going after the shoulder but Briscoe stomps him down in the corner. The bad shoulder goes into the post a few times though as Matt is showing the brains early on. Briscoe tries to slug away but gets caught in the Twist of Fate for two. Matt hits the hammerlock and we take a break.

Back with Jay hitting the forearms and nailing a dropkick but not being able to follow up. A superkick drops Hardy for two and the hangman’s neckbreaker is good for the same. The Jay Driller is broken up though and Matt grabs another Twist of Fate for another two. They go outside with Hardy sending him into various things for two back inside. Jay breaks out of the double underhook choke though and hits a very quick Jay Driller for a near fall.

A bunch of stomps to the leg in the corner have Hardy in more trouble so the referee pulls Briscoe off. That lets Hardy take off his boot for a shot to the head and two of his own. Two more Twists of Fate give Hardy two more and he can’t believe the kickout. The double underhook choke goes on but Briscoe is out in a hurry. Hardy takes his sweet time going up top and a belly to back superplex gives Jay two. They slug it out and the Jay Driller is countered into the Twist of Fate, which is countered into a small package to retain the title at 18:45.

Rating: B. They came as close to epic as you can get in this situation and that’s a good feeling. Matt taking the fall is a big deal as Briscoe gets to establish himself a little bit more. Briscoe hung in there against a legend and even got the pin after surviving several finishers. It felt big and that’s what they were going for so well done.

Post match here’s Rhino to Gore Jay, drawing out Mark Briscoe for the save. ROH and SCUM come out for the brawl with the latter using zip ties to tie ROH to the ropes. Corino puts the title around Hardy and the already concussed Mark takes a pair of Conchairtos. Matt Pillmanizes Jay’s shoulder, which is treated as a bigger deal than the Conchairtos. Corino promises to burn ROH down to end the show. Steen was notably absent for the save.

From ROH TV, July 27, 2013.

Long video on the history of SCUM and how we got to this match. No one on Team ROH really trusts Steen, but they know he’s their only chance.

Team ROH vs. SCUM

Date: July 27, 2013

Location: Du Burns Arena, Baltimore, Maryland

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino

ROH: Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal, BJ Whitmer, Kevin Steen

SCUM: Rhino, Cliff Compton, Jimmy Jacobs, Rhett Titus

It’s Steel Cage Warfare with everything on the line. If SCUM wins, Steve Corino runs ROH but if ROH wins, SCUM disbands. The match is WarGames with one ring and under elimination rules. Two men are in for five minutes, then SCUM gets a two minute advantage. Then it is back and forth entrants every two minutes until one team is completely eliminated. Before the match, Corino mentions that Steen had flat fires and couldn’t be here for the save last week, but Kelly realizes there is no way Corino would have known that without having something to do with it.

Jacobs and Whitmer start things off and immediately slug it out until Whitmer headscissors him into the cage. Whitmer shrugs it off and sends Jacobs into the cage over and over as Corino is being way closer to neutral than you would expect. The exploder suplex gives Whitmer two and he rakes Jacobs’ face into the cage.

Titus makes it 2-1 so Whitmer is waiting on him with some weak looking clotheslines. Whitmer sends him into the cage a few times and we take a break (feels so wrong in a match like this). Back with Whitmer being stomped down in the corner until Elgin is in to tie things up. Elgin suplexes both of them at once and then throws them both at once as the power is on full display. There’s the delayed vertical suplex to Jacobs but Elgin just sits him down for a whip into the cage instead.

Compton makes it 3-2 and he throws powder in Elgin’s eyes. SCUM busts out the zip ties to tie Elgin to the cage so Whitmer is triple teamed. The spike piledriver gets rid of Whitmer so here’s Lethal to take his place with a chair. House is cleaned and Lethal is smart enough to untie Compton so the comeback is on. Titus gets crotched on top and we take a break. Back again with Rhino (MATT HARDY ISN’T IN THIS???) completing SCUM and it’s a Gore to Elgin. Rhino Gores Titus by mistake and it’s a Lethal Injection to get rid of Rhino in about thirty seconds. Corino: “THAT WASN’T PART OF THE PLAN! THAT WASN’T PART OF THE PLAN!”

Lethal goes Savage with a top rope ax handle for two on Compton. Elgin throws Jacobs onto the cage but he bounces off with a back elbow. Steen is in to complete Team ROH but Matt Hardy (at least he’s here) jumps him from behind and sends him into the cage. The door is left open though and everyone fights to the floor with Steen fighting back up without much effort. ROH takes over as Corino is wondering about the lack of disqualifications.

A table is slid into the cage as everyone keeps brawling on the floor. Elgin side slams Compton through a chair and the table is set up in the corner. Lethal is left alone with Titus and Jacobs with a backflip cutter dropping Titus for the elimination. So it’s Lethal/Elgin/Steen vs. Compton/Jacobs, though Hardy is here too. Hardy gets whipped into the barricade again (they like that around here) and Steen gives him a crutch between the legs. Jacobs chairs Lethal in the back and hits a spear through the table. Compton steals the pin to get rid of Lethal and it’s back to 2-2.

Steen gets back in to send Compton into the cage and we take another break. Back with Jacobs hitting the Contra Code on Steen but Elgin sends Jacobs into the cage. Compton climbs the cage for some reason and gets super sitout powerbombed down to give Elgin the pin, leaving us with Elgin/Steen vs. Jacobs. Corino gets in the cage and throws a fireball at Elgin to give Jacobs the pin.

Hardy comes in with a Twist of Fate to Steen and Corino has a briefcase. Corino opens it up to reveal lighter fluid and a bunch of matches with Jacobs even trying to call this off. Hardy holds the referee back as Corino lights the match. Cue Nigel McGuinness to stop Corino and take him down with a lariat. Steen saves Nigel from the Twist of Fate and gives Matt the package piledriver. Another package piledriver ends Jacobs to finish SCUM at 25:47.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t very good actually and I was kind of disappointed. After over a year of buildup, you kind of expect a lot more than ROH only being in any kind of danger in the last minute. Nigel laying out Corino was a great moment but why in the world did SCUM not put Hardy in there? Over Rhett freaking Titus?

Anyway, it wasn’t a bad match, but they really didn’t do a great job of setting up the drama. I can understand why they didn’t want to go with one fall to a finish here, but the elimination didn’t leave a ton of drama in the end. Steen getting the final fall worked, though he never even got his hands on Corino after everything that happened between them. What we got was good, but I was expecting an epic fight and only got a pretty good one.

The celebration is on with Adam Cole of all people coming out to watch as Nigel hugs Steen to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. It’s kind of hard to give an overall rating to something nearly nine and a half hours long, though I do it every year with Wrestlemania so it’s not completely foreign. This worked well in that it showed a complete story (keep in mind that there is a difference between everything there is to know and everything you need to know) and made me want to see how it was going to end. You knew SCUM would go down in the grand finale, but they did a decent job of making me want to see it happen.

The problem though is the story is only so good. The ending cage match is a big deal but once that was announced, a lot of the time was spent killing time until they reached the match. Once Steen was thrown out of the group, the story kind of stopped evolving and it was little more than “SCUM attacks, ROH can’t fight back, we build up the cage match”. That gets a little tiresome, especially when Steen’s fight through SCUM didn’t wind up going anywhere.

Overall, it’s worth checking out if you haven’t seen the era before (as I hadn’t), but it’s not something that needed to be nine hours. They EASILY could have cut out a handful of matches and trimmed this down by at least an hour and a half, but for the price I paid for it ($5, albeit in a huge sale), I really can’t complain about it whatsoever. It’s an interesting sit, but I wouldn’t watch the three discs back to back to back.

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I know I’m a bit behind on these but some things never change.

We’ll start with the sentimental one in Gene Okerlund. I was saddened by this one as Okerlund was one of the most prominently featured names in my wrestling childhood, but I didn’t realize just how big of a deal he was to so many people. The special includes all kinds of great clips with some incredible history, showcasing just how versatile Okerlund was.

That’s what the documentary focuses on more than anything else: how good Gene was at his job. He was able to take anything and make it work, while never backing down from the person he was interviewing. Okerlund really was the best ever at what he did and if you’re a fan of old school wrestling, it’s more than worth your time to see just how good he really was at something so important to wrestling.

Then we had Nigel McGuinness, which was much more of a new experience for me. I knew of McGuinness from his time in Ring of Honor and TNA but I didn’t know just how good or big of a deal he was. Nigel was one of the best at his time and the matches I’ve seen from him were really good. It’s pretty safe to put him on the list of greatest What If’s in WWE history, as he could have been a top player.

The other interesting thing here though was seeing how good he really was with everything related to broadcasting. It’s clear that he loves this stuff and can do anything in wrestling if he’s given the time. The part with Daniel Bryan sending him a text the day he won the World Title in WWE, meaning the night after Nigel retired, was amazing and some of the real emotion that you can’t manufacture.

Check out both of these are they’re more than worth your time.

As you’ve probably heard by now, WWE is going to be holding a UK wrestling tournament in early 2017 which is likely leading to a regular TV series. Now if you listen to WWE, this is for the sake of expanding their international brand. If you pay attention, it’s to crush ITV’s attempt at reviving World of Sport. This isn’t the first time WWE has done something like this and it certainly won’t be the last.

I’m sure the tournament is going to be entertaining as they know how to do these things really well, especially with Nigel McGuinness on commentary. They’re going to crush ITV’s stuff with pure star power and that’s all they need to do. If this is anything like the Cruiserweight Classic or the potential upcoming women’s tournament, this is going to be a blast.

There isn’t much to say about this because it pretty much is what it is: WWE is buying up a lot more talent and giving us cool wrestling with it. I don’t know what is left for WWE to do unless they invade Japan next but I’m sure they would find a way to do it well. Odds are this doesn’t last long but at least it’s a cool concept and should be fun while it lasts.

Ring of Honor
Date: August 10, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 850
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

We’re on to another taping cycle here and we only have two weeks before Death Before Dishonor. It’s a big show this week though as we have Colt Cabana getting his ROH World Title shot against the now bald Jay Lethal. This should make for an interesting match as it’s almost guaranteed to be a way to set up Adam Cole as the next challenger. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the Bullet Club shaving Lethal’s hair and see Jay freaking out in a mirror. Good visual there actually.

Opening sequence.

Will Ferrara vs. Jay White

White is, say it with me, from New Japan. Well at least from their Dojo. For some reason this is treated like his debut even though he was on ROH a few weeks back. White grabs a wristlock to start but Will gets up for a stalemate. A middle rope hurricanrana gets two for Ferrara but White starts twisting his wrist around to take over. Ferrara sends him outside though and a suicide dive takes us to a break. Back with Ferrara hitting a bouncing DDT but getting caught with a missile dropkick for another near fall. A loud dropkick and spinning Rock Bottom get two for White, followed by the Kiwi Crusher for the pin at 9:26.

Rating: C. This was fine as White is someone who needs ring time and some wins that go somewhere to set him up as something important. That’s all well and good but I really don’t need someone else toiling in Ring of Honor until they can go back to New Japan for their real career. White isn’t bad though and that’s a good sign, especially if he sticks around for awhile.

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Silas Young at Death Before Dishonor. That would be the latest New Japan vs. ROH match with no story announced for the pay per view because they don’t have time to set up ROH vs. ROH matches because they’re too busy doing New Japan vs. ROH matches. It’s a vicious cycle.

We look back at Mark Briscoe beating ACH to become #1 contender for the TV Title.

Here’s Mark Briscoe to be in the Fish Tank. Before Bobby Fish comes out, Mark talks about learning the inner workings of the Fish Tank. It’s Bobby Fish subliminally trying to infiltrate his brain. Fish was about to come out but Mark told the music man to play the Briscoes’ music instead. Therefore, this is now THE CHICKEN SHACK with first guest Bobby Fish! Or maybe Chris Jericho since this is screaming Ambrose Asylum/Highlight Reel.

Fish comes out in a suit and Mark approves of the clothing. Mark asks if Fish prefers chicken or fish on his flights but Bobby doesn’t eat airplane food. Question #2: “Is it true that the last time you were in Las Vegas you married an Ethiopian midget?” Fish says no comment because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. That brings Mark to the next time Fish is going to Las Vegas which will be at Death Before Dishonor.

Fish says there is no way he’s losing the title but let’s say the impossible happens. If Mark wins the title, who will he be then? Fish knows the answer: Mark would be Jay Briscoe’s little brother holding his secondary title. See, if Mark wins the title, that title drops right back down the ladder. That’s enough for Mark who throws the chairs over but security breaks it up. Fish says Mark is looking at the champion, who will be leaving Las Vegas with the title. I really liked this segment and it made me want to see the match for the first time, which I didn’t expect.

The Addiction is ready to take care of the Motor City Machine Guns.

ROH World Title: Colt Cabana vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal is defending in a rematch after Adam Cole and the Young Bucks interfered last time. Feeling out process to start as they have a lot of time to work with here, save for an angle at the end that is. Lethal is sent outside in frustration and Cabana is nice enough to hold the ropes open for the champ.

Back in and Lethal dropkicks him outside to earn a nice face chant. Lethal holds the ropes open for Cabana and the fans are getting into the idea here. Back in again and we get some very obvious spot calling with Cabana hitting another dropkick to put Jay on the floor. They quickly switch places so Jay can hit back to back to back suicide dives and the fans are WAY into Lethal here. I think we can call that a successful face turn.

We come back from another break with Cabana charging into a boot in the corner and a slugout won by the challenger. Jay can’t get a rolling suplex but can counter the Billy Goat’s Curse. Instead Cabana hits a middle rope splash for two, only to get caught in the Lethal Combination. Hail To The King is countered into a crucifix but Jay comes back with the Lethal Injection for a near fall.

Cabana is smart enough to step to the side before Jay can try another Injection, only to catch Lethal with the Chicago Skyline (a fireman’s carry drop onto the turnbuckle) as we take another break. Back again with Cabana hitting a jumping hip attack to block the Lethal Injection for a very close two. That would have been better without the commercial right before. Another Injection doesn’t work so Lethal hits a cutter and now the Injection connects to retain the title at 14:12.

Rating: B. I liked this way more than I was expecting to and I was genuinely surprised that they went with a clean finish here. That’s a good thing though as they needed to write Cabana off as a challenger instead of letting that hang over Lethal’s title reign again. I don’t think anyone was expecting Cabana to win the title in the first place but at least they had a good match to blow it off. Lethal really works as a face too, which is kind of a surprise.

Post match Jay asks Nigel McGuinness to get in the ring. Normally Lethal would be saying there’s no one left but there’s one man left. He wants Adam Cole at Death Before Dishonor because he can’t stand by while the Bullet Club takes over. I’m not sure how they’re taking over but that’s what we’re going with. At least it’s not the Beat Down Clan. Nigel says no because there are more worthy challengers.

Cue Cole to say no one is buying this. Cole says nothing should be holding him back from being World Champion again. Unless Jay defends the title again him, that title reign means nothing. Cole calls Lethal a rather rude name and Jay snaps, basically demanding a title match. The demand and the cheering from the crowd forces Nigel to officially make the match, only about two weeks after it was announced on ROH’s website. Cole (with the skinniest arms of a main eventer I’ve seen in years) smiles and leaves to end the show.

Overall Rating: A. Maybe it’s that I watched the Urban Wrestling Federation show before this but this was the best ROH show I can remember seeing in probably six months. The opener was fine, the main event was really good, and the two promos to set up/build pay per view matches were awesome. Nothing on this show didn’t work and I had a really good time with it. Well done indeed ROH and I’m fairly shocked to say that these days.

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Ring of Honor
Date: November 25, 2015
Location: Wings Stadium Annex, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

This is a big show with a big main event as we have Roderick Strong challenging Jay Lethal for the TV Title to continue their long and rather entertaining feud over the last year or so. We’re getting closer and close to Final Battle and it’s about time to have a build between AJ Styles and Lethal for the World Title so maybe they can tie it in here. Let’s get to it.

As a side note, this is the final episode on Destination America, though the show will still air in syndication as it has for years now.

Opening sequence.

Moose vs. Dominic Carter

Spear ends Carter in five seconds.

Post match Moose’s manager Stokely Carmichael says Jay Lethal will only be World Champion until Moose gets his hands on him. Carmichael thinks he heard this last week from Michael Elgin, who isn’t as big or strong or talented as Moose. Therefore, Elgin needs to go to the back of the line where he belongs.

Instead Elgin comes out here to say that Moose did win his match faster than Elgin did last week, but there’s a bit of a size difference. Big Mike is ready to give Moose some real competition any time he’s ready. Moose says we can do it right now but here’s the House of Truth (minus Jay Lethal but including Taeler Henrdix (good lord)) to laugh all this off and call them out for using Lethal’s name to get over. Elgin says he’ll be in a hotel with Hendrix later. Those are fighting words and a tag match is on.

J. Diesel/Donovan Dijak vs. Michael Elgin/Moose

It’s a big brawl to start until we take a break. Back with Elgin taking Dijak down with an enziguri and a dropkick for good measure. Moose comes in for his own dropkick and then a suplex, challenging Elgin to best that. Elgin’s suplex is in fact longer but he stops to argue with Moose, allowing the House of Truth to make a comeback. Everything breaks down and Hendrix grabs Elgin for a distraction. Dijak grabs a good looking chokebreaker on Elgin as Kelly talks about Diesel wanting to go by Joey Diesel Daddiago or however that is spelled.

Moose makes his comeback on Diesel but Dijak jumps him from behind. Without a tag, Elgin sends both of them to the floor for an apron cannonball before teasing a kiss on Hendrix. That sexual assault goes nowhere so it’s a German suplex for two on Diesel instead. Everything breaks down again and Elgin buckle bombs Diesel, followed by a spear from Moose after a blind tag for the pin at 11:33.

Rating: C. This was all storytelling instead of a good match and there’s nothing wrong with that. Moose vs. Elgin has the potential to be two guys beating the heck out of each other for fifteen minutes at Final Battle and that’s all it needs to be. Lethal vs. either one could be a fun match on a big stage so everyone wins. Well save for whichever of them loses.

Moose and Elgin stare each other down as Elgin didn’t like that blind tag.

Long video on Strong wanting one more match to prove he can beat Lethal. It’s not about either title but rather Strong’s pride. They were smart to keep this taped as Strong live can be a disaster. He’s downright listenable taped though.

Story Time with Adam Cole focuses on the Kingdom being great Tag Team Champions. War Machine will get their hopeless title shot at Final Battle and Cole will beat up Dalton Castle next week. Simple, to the point and natural here.

Here’s the Decade so BJ Whitmer can rip on Steve Corino for lying about his neck surgery. Whitmer can’t believe that Nigel McGuinness bought it because McGunniness lied about being hurt a few years back. Nigel isn’t going to take this and gets in the ring to…..say the Decade can’t be at Final Battle either.

TV Title: Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal is defending and this is their third match of the year with Lethal holding a 1-0-1 lead. There’s no Truth Martini here but there are two referees to make sure it’s a fair fight. They go to the mat to start with Lethal bailing outside when he can’t keep up. An armbar frustrates the champion even more and he teases leaving, only to get dragged back in and chopped as a punishment.

We take a break with Roderick in control and come back with Jay firing off chops on the floor. Roderick tastes the barricade (needs some honey mustard) but is thrown back in at a thirteen count. Back in and they chop each other some more until Lethal takes over with a headlock. Well it’s better than the standard chinlock. A quick enziguri gives Strong a breather and he fires off his running strikes before picking Jay up for a backbreaker.

Back from another break with Lethal missing a dropkick but grabbing the Lethal Combination for two. There’s a Koji Clutch (which just looks cool) until Strong crawls over to the ropes and bails outside for a breather. Two straight suicide dives have Strong in trouble but he avoids a third. Well yeah he should after Lethal does the same thing three times. Back in and Lethal gets caught on the top for a kind of reverse belly to back suplex.

The Strong Hold is broken up and a Lethal Injection gets two. Strong comes right back with three straight knees to the face but a superplex is countered into a top rope bulldog. That only gets two more so Strong pops up for another knee to the head. The Sick Kick and a suplex into a backbreaker set up the Strong Hold to FINALLY end Lethal’s eighteen month reign at 21:48.

Rating: B+. They really didn’t have any other choice here and that’s often the best thing that can happen. Lethal had held the title for so long that it didn’t mean anything anymore and now it’s freed up for others to have their run with it instead. I’ve never been a fan of having one person as a double champion so it’s a good move to let Lethal just be World Champion. The match itself was really solid stuff too with the ending being the best part as Strong just threw everything he had at Lethal until Jay couldn’t stand up any longer.

The House of Truth pulls Lethal out as Strong poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. When a third of your show is one really solid match and the other major story is building up to what should be a fun match at Final Battle, everyone wins here. Everyone is on point right now and it’s making the build for Final Battle all the better. Good stuff here with another solid show, as it’s been for a long time now.

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Ring of Honor
Date: September 9, 2015
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: King Corino, Kevin Kelly

This is a special show as we have a pair of title matches with the Young Bucks challenging the Addiction for the Tag Team Titles and World Champion Jay Lethal defending against Roderick Strong in a rematch from their pay per view draw. This is where Ring of Honor is supposed to shine so let’s see how good they can be. Let’s get to it.

Truth Martini and Jay Lethal say Strong has already had his shot so this is his final chance for the title.

Strong says he’s Mr. Ring of Honor because he wrestles as hard as he can every time he’s out there. There will be a winner tonight and he’ll be the new World Champion. Good night please get this guy a mouthpiece.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Addiction

The Addiction is defending. Sabin is at ringside with Kazarian and Daniels. The Bucks double superkick Daniels during the big match intros and the champs are in early trouble. Matt tosses Nick into a dropkick to put Daniels down again but Sabin pulls Kaz to the floor for a save. That goes badly as well with Sabin superkicking Daniels by mistake, earning him an early ejection. He tries to run back in but gets a double superkick for his efforts.

Kazarian gets kicked off the apron again as we’re still waiting on this to get down to a regular tag match. There’s a superkick to Daniels but Kazarian shoves Nick off the top to finally take over. Back from a break with Daniels pounding on Matt and dropping him with a gutbuster. We hit the waistlock on Matt to stay on the ribs and Daniels throws his feet on the ropes because he knows how to be a heel.

Matt comes back with a top rope flip into a Stunner (so much for the ribs) and makes the tag off to Nick. The slingshot X Factor gets two on Kaz and a Cannonball sets up the Swanton Bomb as Kaz is draped over the ropes for two. Daniels comes back in for the save for a release Rock Bottom but the BME hits knees. Kaz slingshots Nick into a cutter but Matt kicks his head off to put everyone down. It’s Addiction up first and a downward spiral puts Matt down, followed by a choke but here’s the Kingdom to go after Nick.

That goes nowhere as the Bucks get back up for a buckle bomb into an enziguri. The Meltzer Driver plants Kaz but Daniels makes the save, only to blame it on the Kingdom. The referee goes after the Kingdom, allowing Daniels to hit Nick with the title. Matt takes it away and cleans house with the belt until Maria takes it away. The distraction lets Kaz grab a quick rollup for the pin to retain at 13:50.

Rating: B. This was fun but could have been great had there not been quite as much interference. Still though, the Bucks are tailor made for this kind of a promotion and the Addiction are able to back up their antics in the ring. Either way, this was a very fun match and some of the Bucks’ stuff defies physics. I wouldn’t call this a well done match, but it was incredibly entertaining and that’s very good as well.

Wait a second though as cue Nigel McGuinness who says that’s not happening on his watch. Since the Bucks just got ripped off, let’s add them to All-Star Extravaganza on September 18 in San Antonio.

ROH World Title: Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong

Lethal is defending and has the entire House of Truth with him. The fans are split as the guys shake hands because being a heel means nothing in this company. They slug it out to start until Lethal kicks Strong out to the floor. The champ scores with a suicide dive but Strong runs back in for a great looking dropkick as we take a break.

Back with Strong sending Jay into the barricade but Roderick has to fight off the House of Truth, allowing Jay to get in a superkick. We hit the chinlock back inside before Lethal’s fireman’s carry into Snake Eyes staggers Strong again. It’s back to the chinlock as Roderick is bleeding a bit from the forehead.

Jay finally mixes things up a bit by sending Strong to the floor so the House of Truth can get in some cheap shots as we take another break. Back again with Strong hitting a quick backbreaker, followed by a string of chops in the corner. Lethal blocks another backbreaker out of the corner but Strong starts running the ropes and hitting a quick elbow to the face every time.

Strong misses a jumping knee to the face and the Lethal Combination gets two. The champ’s superplex is broken up and Roderick drops a top rope elbow for two of his own. The announcers start talking about Bill Belichick for some point that takes far too long to get to as the guys chop it out again. There’s the jumping knee to the head and Lethal is staggered.

Strong’s superplex connects but Jay grabs a small package out of nowhere for two. The jumping knee to the face is no sold (oh here we go) and Lethal loads up the Lethal Injection but gets countered by the Sick Kick for two and we take a third break. Back one more time with the referee taking the Book of Truth out of the ring, allowing Strong to hit another pair of knees to the face. Lethal comes back with two more superkicks and a belt shot. The Lethal Injection gets two and the fans are WAY into this. I believe the seventh superkick of the match sets up a second Lethal Injection to retain Jay’s title at 25:12.

Rating: B. This is an interesting case as it’s a more exciting and better match than the Tag Team Title match but my goodness the repetitiveness of the superkicks and jumping knees really held this back. There’s other stuff you can do and it makes the match feel like a video game where you find a single move that works and keep doing it over and over. The drama was solid, but mix that stuff up again. Also, stop no selling a jumping knee to the face, especially when the same move knocked you silly thirty seconds earlier. Not only are you not Hulk Hogan, you’re a heel. No selling is a face idea, not for the guy you’re booing.

ReDRagon comes out to stare Lethal down to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. Like I said, this was supposed to be where Ring of Honor shined and they did that here. This felt like a big preview for All-Star Extravaganza and it’s a good idea to set up the bigger matches here and give the fans a preview. There are still some things on here that get on my nerves but it could be a lot worse. Fun hour of wrestling here which really did feel like something different than WWE and TNA, which could be seen as a major compliment.

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It’s Wrestlemania Sunday so who else could it be? Today is Daniel Bryan.

 

Before we get started, Bryan is another of those guys who has had so many matches that I can’t possibly fit all of them in and I have to skip some stuff. There’s really no way around it.

Bryan was originally known as American Dragon and would be trained by Shawn Michaels at the Texas Wrestling Academy. The school also had a wrestling promotion, where Dragon fought Spanky (Brian Kendrick) for the TV Title from January 2000.

TWA TV Title: American Dragon vs. Spanky

Both guys are very young with Bryan (in a mask) being 19 and Spanky at about 20. Shawn Michaels is on commentary here. Stereo dropkicks don’t get anyone anywhere before they trade chops in the corner. Dragon nails a hard shot to the back and they shake hands. Spanky spins out of a wristlock but gets hiptossed down for his efforts. The champion walks the corner and comes down with a headscissors off the top for two.

Spanky tries his backflip out of the corner but gets his head taken off with a running clothesline. Dragon puts on a standing guillotine choke before just dropping him down. A rolling cradle out of the corner gets two for Dragon and he elbows Spanky in the jaw to keep control. Dragon is sent to the floor with Spanky following him out with a HUGE dive.

Back in and a missile dropkick drops the Dragon again and they head outside again. Using the steps as a springboard, Spanky takes the challenger down with a clothesline before they head back inside. A series of hard clotheslines get two for Dragon and he hooks a dragon suplex, drawing in someone named Shooter for a DQ.

Rating: C-. The match was pretty sloppy at times but you have to give them breaks as they’re both brand new out there. Of course they would get a lot better over time and figure out their styles. This was very indy flippy style but to be fair, that was still cutting edge stuff at the time.

After a few years in Japan and in the indies, Bryan was good enough for a jobber spot in the WWE. Here’s a well known match from Velocity, the C show of its day on February 8, 2003.

John Cena vs. Bryan Danielson

Cena has long yellow pants on here and commentator Ernest Miller is annoyed that he didn’t rap to the ring. We also hear about Cena challenging Brock Lesnar for a match on Smackdown. Bryan takes him down with a wristlock into an armbar before Cena takes him down with a test of strength. Danielson bridges up and Cena can’t break him down, allowing Bryan to monkey flip him down. That’s fine with Cena as he runs Daniel over with a clothesline to take over. We hit the bearhug for a bit until Danielson fights out with a nice enziguri. Bryan charges into a boot though and the ProtoBomb is enough for the pin.

Rating: C-. Not terrible here as Bryan got to show off a bit despite being destroyed in the end. I love seeing stuff like this as it’s so odd to see this as a nothing match on a nothing show instead of the main event of Summerslam. Cena was still new as well, having only debuted about eight months earlier. It’s strange to see either guy as a rookie like this.

One of Bryan’s mainstays was ROH, where he would dominate for several years. This would include a year plus long reign as World Champion, including this defense against Homicide at Final Battle 2006.

ROH World Title: Homicide vs. Bryan Danielson

We have 54 minutes left in this tape. Let’s see if these two are as good as they’re said to be. We’re in Homicide’s hometown so he’s WAY over. It’s a good thing his first name isn’t commonly known. It might be hard to take a guy named Nelson seriously as s street thug. Danielson’s Final Countdown intro is cool too so I’ll give him that. He certainly has his fans too.

I’ve heard great things about both guys in this company so show me what you’ve got. We get the big match intros which are always fun. Danielson is heel here because he more or less has to be. We stall forever as the fans chant ring the bell. Danielson flips him off instead of shaking his hand like the Code of Honor stipulates. Here we go. About forty six and a half minutes to go in the tape at the bell so we’ve got a LOT of time here.

Some guy shows up to do commentary but his name is incomprehensible. We get a long feeling out sequence and Homicide takes off his bandana. Homicide has apparently had some shady decisions in title matches and if he doesn’t win here he’s gone, more or less saying he wins. At least I think so as he came to TNA around this time.

Smokes, the guy that got hurt earlier, isn’t here due to Pearce and Hagadorn. Homicide has a bad shoulder apparently thanks to Danielson last night. Danielson has tights like Regal used to wear. We have a lot of quick holds as they try to gain control. Apparently Danielson has a bad shoulder too.

No one really has an advantage for more than a few seconds here so we’re really still feeling each other out here. Apparently in a previous title match Homicide was getting hit in the head a lot and the referee stopped it which he disagreed with. The surfboard continues to look completely insane every time I see it.

This is wrestler vs. brawler here which is always an interesting dynamic. We get a slingshot suplex as Danielson is in control at this point. Scratch that as Homicide takes over. We hit the floor and Danielson is in trouble. We get the I HAVE TIL FIVE thing which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. Three Amigos takes over for Homicide as Eddie had been dead just over a year at this point.

And at about 11 minutes in, Pearce and Hagadorn run in for the DQ. Are you kidding me? Danielson leaves with the belt as Homicide’s Crew makes the save. The crowd LOSES IT over this as even the commentators are saying YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME. Apparently they are as the referee says no way it ends that way and let’s keep going!

Here we go again as we’re back at it. Oh and the running in heels hit a spike shoulderbreaker on Homicide’s bad shoulder so it’s hurt now. I don’t get the point of the run in at all here. At least it happened I guess you would say early on in the match rather than later so that’s good. It’s his right arm if you’re curious.

Smokes is at ringside now. Oh joy. Danielson is in control now as you would expect him to be. Danielson goes for a flying headbutt and gets caught in a Diamond Cutter (Yes I know it’s properly called an Ace Crusher. If you want to argue which name is more famous I’d love to hear it) Also, assuming the headbutt was launched when Homicide was on the mat, dang he got up fast.

Homicide speeds things up and dives into the second row through the ropes in a cool looking spot. Now Danielson’s shoulder is hurt. This has been a very back and forth match. Danielson gets caught in an armbar but gets to the ropes for the escape. I love that jumping European Uppercut off the top. A crossface chickenwing goes on but more ropes are grabbed.

They trade strikes and hit the floor. Homicide slides back in and hits the ropes so he can….slide back out. Sure why not. Danielson hits a dive into the first few rows that looked great. Can we get rid of that Smokes idiot? He’s getting on my nerves. Danielson starts the series of elbows to the head like he did in the previous match but it doesn’t work.

There’s the crossface chickenwing and the body scissors in the middle of the ring. In a cool spot, the arm comes down a third time but as the referee goes for the bell, Homicide grabs his leg. And Smokes of course has to pour water on Homicide. Seriously, can someone shoot this guy?

Danielson doesn’t let go on the five count so Homicide just gets up. Uh, why didn’t he DO THAT EARLIER? Danielson gets Cattle Mutilation. One thing I want to know: where in the world did he come up with that name? Did he throw that on one day and was thinking about what would happen if he did it to a cow?

He hooks it three times but Homicide won’t tap. He throws in more elbows to the head but he stays in it. Homicide gets the Cop Killer (Vertebreaker for you WCW fans) for a LONG two but Danielson grabs the ropes. Homicide pulls a Randy Savage and goes for the ring bell which leads nowhere.

And then Danielson gets a low blow and small package for two and then Homicide hits a lariat for the pin. Seriously, that might have been the most out of nowhere ending ever. The ring mostly fills up for a celebration. Now can we please kill Julius Smokes?

Rating: A. This was indeed a great match and well worth seeing. There were some moments I didn’t like, but they were few and far between. Homicide winning was pretty clear but it came off well. They built up to a great match and I liked what I saw. Danielson is still overrated, but this was very good stuff. Homicide just doesn’t feel like a world champion to me, but I was impressed. Solid match and worth seeing.

Danielson would be back and get a shot at World Champion Nigel McGuinness at the 8th Anniversary Show.

ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness

The fans are split here and it’s a feeling out process to start with Nigel grabbing a wristlock, only to have Danielson dropkick the knee out to put him down. Back up and they fight over a test of strength until Bryan takes him down by the legs. There’s a bow and arrow hold to the champion before pinning Nigel’s arms down to the mat for two. Back up and Danielson avoids Nigel’s big lariat before calling on the crowd’s xenophobia by starting a USA chant.

Nigel takes him down with a headlock takeover but Bryan easily counters into a headscissors. McGuinness fights to the ropes but is very frustrated at not being able to slow down the challenger. Danielson is taken into the corner for some chops but does a headstand in the corner and catches Nigel with a dropkick. Nigel is sent to the floor and taken out with the FLYING GOAT as things speed up.

Back in and Bryan hits a missile dropkick before suplexing Nigel down with ease. McGuinness rolls to the apron for a breather before shoving the referee down for the lame DQ. He grabs the mic and says that the wankers in the crowd got the title match that they wanted and goes to leave, only to run into Austin Aries, Delirious, and I believe Kevin Steen and Roderick Strong. Aries says get back in the ring or go through all of them. McGuinness gets back inside and we’re at it again.

Danielson chops away in the corner but Nigel gets in a shot to the shoulder and sends it into the buckle and post. The fans shout SCREW YOU NIGEL and he tells them to chant louder. Off to an armscissors before Nigel slaps Bryan in the face, making the fans beg Bryan to mess him up. The champion wraps Bryan’s arm around the rope and then the post while mocking the USA chant. Back in and Nigel traps the arm down and cranks on the neck but Bryan comes back with a big kick to the head and a knee to the ribs.

Bryan is starting to feel it and sends Nigel to the apron where a running kick to the back sends the Brit to the floor. Nigel isn’t done yet though and backdrops Danielson over the top to the floor and the fans quiet down again. Bryan reverses a whip into the barricade before dumping Nigel into the crowd, setting up a HUGE springboard dive over the steel and into the crowd. Back in and McGuinness blocks another missile dropkick but gets caught in a triangle choke.

Nigel’s big lariat puts Danielson down and the fans complain that it’s the same move McGuinness always uses. Note that they’re complaining about this in a BRYAN DANIELSON match. Danielson sits on the top rope and catapults Nigel out to the floor again. McGuinness blocks another FLYING GOAT with an uppercut (thankfully Bryan was clearly stopping before he reached the ropes), setting up the Tower of London on the floor. The champion is busted open a bit as well.

Back in again and Nigel puts Danielson in Cattle Mutilation (Bryan’s hold) but Bryan rolls around into a cover for two. Danielson ducks a big lariat but crotches himself on the ropes, setting up a middle rope clothesline and another Tower of London for two. There’s a seated armbar as Nigel remembers the arm work from earlier. Danielson raises his arm and waves to the crowd as he makes it into the ropes for the break. Back up and Danielson hits a Rolling Chaos Theory out of the corner to put both guys down.

They strike it out until McGuinness is sat on top for a belly to back superplex for two. There’s the real Cattle Mutilation but Nigel rolls over, only to be caught in a tiger suplex for two. Danielson fires off a bunch of elbows to the ribs and puts on an armbar followed by a triangle choke. McGuinness gets his arm up at two drops and finally gets his feet in the ropes. Bryan pounds on him in the corner and asks for a ten count but Nigel headbutts him down, injuring Danielson’s bad eye from a recent injury. The big running lariat sets up a bunch of seated elbows to the head. Bryan is out as Nigel puts on the seated armbar to win.

Rating: B-. It’s a good match but I wasn’t feeling it all that well. The biggest problem here was there was some deal with Danielson not attacking the head and having a bad eye but the announcers expected us to know what those stories were about. That’s one thing WWE commentary is great at: you’re always going to hear the story of a match very quickly and leave very little confusion. The action here was solid but it felt like they were trying to have a long match rather than a good one. Also if you’re going to do the false DQ finish, do it after six minutes into the match.

Danielson’s work would be good enough to get him a job in the WWE, though he asked to go to FCW for some rust removal first. Here’s his debut on February 7, 2010.

Kaval vs. Bryan Danielson

Kaval is more famous as Low Ki. They shake hands to start as an ROH chant begins. Feeling out process gets us going with Danielson being taken to the mat and bridging up, only to have Kaval knee him in the ribs. Back up and Bryan cranks on the arm before backing Kaval into the ropes and smacking him in the face. Kaval comes right back with a spinning kick to the face for two of his own and we hit the cravate. More kicks to the face get two on Danielson but he comes back with kicks to the face of his own.

Bryan cranks on the arm but gets backdropped when trying a butterfly suplex. Back up and Kaval fires off even more kicks followed by a double stomp to the ribs for two. A tiger bomb into a cross armbreaker has Kaval in trouble but he gets a foot on the ropes. Danielson’s Swan Dive misses and another kick to the face gets two for Kaval. After kicking Bryan off the top, it’s the Warrior’s Way (top rope double stomp) for the pin.

Rating: C+. This match comes down to the question of do you like Low Ki’s style or not and I’ve never been a fan. He’s FAR too one dimensional for my taste and it drives me insane. Danielson would get the recognition over Kaval and I can’t say I disagree as he’s far more balanced in the ring than Kaval.

It wouldn’t be long before Bryan was brought up to participate in the first season of NXT. Here’s his first match on WWE TV, from February 23, 2010.

Daniel Bryan vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is World Heavyweight Champion here. In a weird error, Bryan’s graphic lists him as being from Vegas but the announcer says he’s from Washington. Odd indeed. Bryan can’t get a handshake to start. Jericho slaps him and it’s on. They trade dropkicks and we go back and forth a bit. Keep in mind the idea here is that this is Bryan’s debut so you have to factor out that he’s US Champion as this is being written.

Barrett cuts a quick promo here where he kisses up to Jericho a bit more but doesn’t say what he’s actually learning. Bryan throws some kicks and goes for the knee. Daniel controls here as Cole begins his indy bashing stuff and his war against the internet. Bryan speeds it up and knocks Jericho to the floor.

And there’s the highlight reel moment of the first season as Bryan DIVES through the ropes but Jericho catches him in a belly to belly to slam his back into the edge of the announce table which must hurt beyond belief. Back in the ring Bryan gets a leg lock and Jericho is in trouble. Codebreaker out of nowhere though and Bryan is down. Walls end it soon after.

Rating: B. All things considered, this was mind blowing. Factoring in that this was his mainstream debut, this can only be classified as a success. Solid match here either way and that counter spot was great. Seeing a guy like Bryan giving Jericho a legit scare here with a nice leg lock thrown in was something no one expected. This was great all things considered.

After debuting as part of the Nexus, Daniel would be fired for choking Justin Roberts with a necktie. DUring this time he went to the indies, including a stop in California at PWG Seven.

Roderick Strong vs. Bryan Danielson

I’ll be calling him Bryan in this for the sake of my own sanity. This is during his fired time from WWE. I’ve always liked Strong so this should be decent at least. People throw in ties in a nice joke to Bryan. This is his big return so a lot of people are happy here. The other commentator is named Rick Knox here apparently. Strong grabs the arm to start so the fans chant “You’re going to get your f’ing head kicked in”. It’s a Danielson thing and it’s very annoying. Standoff after some mat work.

Danielson misses a big kick and Strong hits the floor to break up the momentum. Bryan goes off with kicks in the corner as I guess you can forget about me just calling him Bryan. Strong hammers away and we hit the mat due to reason of lack of air. Strong pulls out a tie to choke Danielson in a semi-funny bit. The announcers talk about how Danielson did nothing before appearing on WWE TV. I guess FCW is considered nothing now?

Bryan gets a running boot/knee to get us back to even. He grabs the tie now and chokes away at Strong. Well at least he’s got a sense of humor about it. Danielson teases a big dive but instead settles for a running knee off the apron. Top rope dropkick puts Strong down as does a running knee for two. Cattle Mutilation is blocked into a powerslam by Strong for two. Apparently the vegan thing has only been in place since the beginning of 2010. Interesting I guess.

Strong Hold by Strong which is one of his signature moves. It’s a Boston Crab/Liontamer if that makes no sense to you. Danielson slips out into a pinfall reversal sequence including an old school Tumbleweed. Off to a kneebar by Danielson getting us some Derrick Bateman inspired SUBMISSION WRESTLING! Strong gets to the ropes but Danielson has until five.

They strike away a bit and Bryan gets all ticked off. After a semi-botched crucifix Bryan hammers in 19 elbow strikes to the head. Little overkill there much? Cattle Mutilation (double chickenwing with a bridge. Look it up) but Strong makes the ropes. Gutbuster by Strong sets up a backbreaker which he does like 10 variations of but the LeBell Lock (not called that) goes on seconds later and it’s over. Bryan won if that wasn’t clear.

Rating: B. See, this was a far more competitive match with some thinking in it. The tie stuff was a nice touch and they made this feel like a big match. It helps that both guys are talented but I think that’s implied. Pretty good stuff here and definitely the best match of the show so far.

Bryan returned to the WWE at Summerslam 2010 as a mystery partner in John Cena’s match against the NExus. He would then feud with his NXT pro Miz, including this match from Night of Champions 2010.

US Title: The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan

Miz in blue here which works for him in a weird way. Riley is here with Miz of course. We’re told that Shawn trained by HBK which I don’t remember hearing before. Very well may have been though. Somehow we talk about Lou Thesz and Cole says he Googled all of his info. Can we get some talk about breakfast again? It’s far more interesting than this bickering.

Miz with a nice bow and arrow hold as the announcers keep up their complaining. We get an explanation for the name LaBelle Lock, which is named after an old wrestler from the 30s. Well that’s better than nothing. Miz works the arm as Striker says he thinks Bryan is attractive. We get a shoulderbreaker and Striker gives a shout out to Double A (Arn Anderson) and says he should be in the Hall of Fame. Say it with me: AMEN!

The champ throws out a big boot as we’ve literally seen it three times tonight. Bryan with a suicide dive through the ropes to take out Miz. He SELLS THE ARM and hits a dropkick off the top for two. They slug it out and the selling continues. Let the boo/yay chanting begin! Running dropkick in the corner which always amazes me when someone hits it for some reason.

Miz kicks out again and Bryan gets a bit frustrated. We head up top and Bryan gets crotched. SWEET clothesline takes down Bryan who lands on his arm for two. All Miz here as he CRANKS on the arm and makes Bryan scream. Ropes are grabbed but Miz has til five. If he yelled that the IWC would have rioted. The Finale (not typing that name out) is countered into a rollup for two.

Riley gets on the apron but Miz punches him by mistake. Rollup by Bryan gets two and I would have bet on that being the ending. Bryan to the floor and Riley rams the post by mistake. Bryan STILL holds the arm. Miz just goes off on Bryan with punches but gets pulled into the LaBelle Lock AND IT’S OVER! Miz cries at ringside in a funny moment.

Rating: B+. This WORKED. I was way into the ending here as Bryan came off as awesome, just like Miz. I can’t wait for the IWC to whine about how Bryan carried Miz here and I can’t wait for it. Miz more than held up his half out there and looked great (just to be clear, Bryan was great here too). This was a very solid match but was held back by Riley interfering. Miz losing this way is perfect and it definitely put Bryan over. Very solid match and I was most impressed.

After not much of a 2011, Bryan would rebound by winning the Money in the Bank briefcase for the World Heavyweight Championship briefcase. He would rise up the card on his own though and get a shot at the belt on November 29, 2011’s Smackdown.

Smackdown World Title: Mark Henry vs. Daniel Bryan

We even get big match intros. The winner gets Big Show at TLC. Bryan runs for the corner almost immediately. You can win by pin, submission or escape. Bryan keeps trying to run and avoid corners. He wisely goes for the bad leg so Henry throws him into the cage. He splashes Bryan against the wall and we take a break. Back with Henry still dominating. We get a clip from during the break with Henry pulling Bryan back and in essence sling shotting him into the cage.

Time for a nerve hold to waste some time. Bryan fires off a dropkick but Henry kills him with a clothesline. The leg is wearing out though as he kind of falls into the cover for two. Bryan wakes up and goes crazy on the ankle, getting Henry down on the mat and screaming in pain. Bryan climbs but Henry makes the catch, crotching Bryan on the ropes. Henry goes for the door but Bryan grabs the ankle again. Bryan fires off a dropkick to the knee and hooks the LeBell Lock but Henry powers out of it.

Off to an ankle lock and the place is really getting into this. Henry kicks Bryan off but he can’t get up to follow up on it. The challenger goes up but gets his tights partially pulled down. Now Henry goes up but Bryan follows him. He gets over the top but Henry grabs the arm and pulls him back in. There’s some good drama in this. Henry tries a powerbomb out of the corner but Bryan climbs over the top. Henry pulls him back in again and headbutts him into the World’s Strongest Slam from the top. And that takes care of Bryan at 11:15.

Rating: B. Good main event here and the drama towards the end was solid. I don’t think anyone had any realistic reason to believe that Bryan was going to win and they shouldn’t have. He’s a midcard guy getting his first chance in there with the big boys and he’s not ready for the title yet. Still though, very solid main event and Henry gets a win that he’s been lacking recently.

At TLC, Mark Henry and Big Show had quite the war. It was such a battle that Bryan had an opening and won the title. The monsters weren’t pleased and had a rematch in a cage at the 2012 Royal Rumble.

Smackdown World Title: Big Show vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Mark Henry

Bryan is champion and beat Show at TLC by cashing in his MITB case in 45 seconds. Show beat Henry at the same show and ran over Bryan’s girlfriend AJ on Raw to set all this up. This is one fall to a finish and it’s pin/submission/escape. Bryan immediately goes for the corner but Henry pulls him down and Show runs Bryan over for two. Show crushes Henry against the cage wall but has to stop to pull Bryan back inside. Rey tries to run up again but Show catches him by the ankle and slams him back in.

Show loads up the WMD but hits the cage wall instead. The champion fires off some kicks but gets headbutted right back down. Bryan kicks the knee out even harder and fires off some kicks to Henry to keep the other monster down. He goes for the door but you know this isn’t ending that quickly. Henry makes the stop and demands that the referee CLOSE THAT DOOR. Show superkicks Henry down and it’s his turn to take over for awhile.

Bryan gets slammed down but Henry is back up again. A few punches put Show down because a dozen chair shots usually can’t, but a few punches can. Actually that’s a great way to keep Henry looking strong. The fans are cheering for Bryan as Henry and Show collide to put all three guys down. Show gets back up and clotheslines Bryan down a few times before superkicking him in the face. The chokeslam is countered and Bryan hits a tornado DDT on Show for two.

The LeBell (NO!) Lock is put on Show but Henry breaks it up in about a second. The WMD gets two on Henry but Bryan makes the save, which ticks Show off. Bryan SPRINTS up the cage but Show chases after him and grabs Bryan before he can get out. Bryan sits on the top of the cage and pounds away, only to be caught again. The champion is literally hanging from Show’s wrist before finally letting go and falling to the floor to retain the title.

Rating: D+. This really wasn’t all that great. At the end of the day, it was a lot of the same sequence over and over again with Show and Henry not having a ton of interaction at all. The ending didn’t look great either and I’m not sure why Show would just hold him out over the floor like that. This falls under the category of “…..really?” as it’s hard to buy Bryan keeping the belt here.

Bryan would lose the title at Wrestlemania in 18 seconds but he would stay in the title scene. It would be a different title however as he would feud with CM Punk over the Raw title, including this match at Money in the Bank 2012.

Raw World Title: Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk

This is now No DQ, Punk is defending and AJ is guest referee. Punk takes him to the mat and fires off some quick kicks. They head outside and Bryan gets rammed into the apron, only for Punk to get rammed into the barricade and kicked in the chest. Back in and Bryan fires off the YES kicks but gets rolled up for two. Bryan pounds away in the corner and they chop it out. That evolves into a strike off and the champion takes over.

A backbreaker looks to set up a middle rope legdrop but Bryan moves, followed by more YES kicks. They head to the floor again and Punk takes over, sending Bryan into the barricade again. Punk accidentally elbows AJ in the face, sending her out to the floor. The champ goes to check on her and Bryan uses the distraction to hit the running knee off the apron to take Punk down.

Punk gets draped over the steps on the floor and Bryan fires off more kicks. Punk comes back and sends Bryan into the timekeeper’s table. This is a back and forth match the entire time so far. The fans want tables because they’re greedy people. Punk pulls one out from under the ring but Bryan slams him down on the outside. Bryan finds a kendo stick and pounds away on the ribs of the champion. Punk rolls away and gets back inside while Bryan is still on the floor.

Back in and Punk gets the stick for a second, only for Bryan to go back to the ribs. Punk loads up a springboard but Bryan hits Punk in the ribs with the stick to take him down. Bryan fires away with stick shots to the ribs, complete with YES shouts. Those shots get two with the regular referee having taken over inside. Daniel goes up but the swan dive misses, putting both guys down.

They trade kicks and then forearms but it’s a leg lariat from Punk that takes Bryan down. Punk comes back with a running knee to the head and the snap powerslam for two. GTS and YES Lock are both countered and another GTS attempt is countered into a rana for two. Bryan kicks the champ’s head off and both guys are down. Bryan pops him in the back with a kendo stick and puts on a surfboard.

Punk manages to get to the kendo stick and beats the fire out of Bryan with it but can only get two. Punk goes up top but Bryan drills him with forearms to the head. Bryan pops up top and hits a superplex to put both guys down again. AJ is back and she sends the regular referee out to the floor. It’s time to skip! AJ pulls out a chair and Bryan crawls to her for it. Instead AJ throws the chair in the middle of the ring and it’s a scramble for it. Isn’t that how the XFL started its games?

Bryan gets in a kick to the ribs and pounds away on Punk with the chair for a close two. Bryan tries to talk to AJ calmly but it gets him rolled up for two by the champ. Daniel fires off more kicks to the chest of Punk and Punk can barely sit up in the corner. Bryan gets a running start but Punk comes out with a clothesline. Now Punk has the chair and blasts Bryan with it before wedging it between the top and middle ropes.

Punk goes to get Bryan to ram him into the chair, but AJ is standing in front of the chair. As Punk yells at her, Bryan comes up from behind and dropkicks Punk into the corner but not necessarily into the chair. Bryan goes to get the kendo stick but AJ is standing on it. She gives him a psycho stare and Bryan gives up. He walks into the high kick though and Punk slams Bryan onto the chair. The top rope elbow misses and the elbow hits the chair. Bryan throws on the YES Lock and grabs the stick at the same time to choke away.

Punk somehow bends back and blasts Bryan in the knee with the stick, followed by a GTS, but the champion can’t follow up. The GTS eventually gets two so Punk brings in a table. Punk loads up the elbow through the table but Bryan crotches Punk and hammers away. Punk slips down off the ropes and crotches Bryan at the same time. He pounds away with elbows and a belly to back superplex through the table FINALLY pins Bryan to retain the title.

Rating: A. This was GREAT at the end as I was hanging on every count of every near fall. That was a great match all the way through, but were you expecting anything else with these two having nearly half an hour? The major problem here though is the lack of AJ involvement. She basically did nothing other than blocking a weapon shot either way, and the ending was about the wrestling instead of her. That’s fine on paper, but we’ve spent two months building her up as the key to this whole thing. Still though, the match was more than enough to make up for that.

Bryan would start having anger issues around this time and join forces with another angry man in the form of Kane. The two would win the Tag Team Titles and become known as HELL NO. The new team would have issues with the trio known as the Shield who also had problems with Ryback. These two trios would face off at TLC in a TLC match, due to CM Punk being injured and not being able to face Ryback as scheduled.

Ryback/HELL NO vs. The Shield

It’s a TLC match but you can win by pin/submission because there’s nothing to hang above the ring. Shield comes through the crowd of course. The brawl starts on the floor of course with Bryan vs. Rollins, Kane vs. Reigns and Ambrose vs. Ryback. Ryback and Ambrose get in the ring and the smart aleck fans just have to chant Goldberg. Shield gets Ryback 3-1 but he shrugs them off. Kane tries to bring in a ladder but Rollins dropkicks it into the monster’s ribs.

Bryan takes a ladder to the face as well but here’s Ryback to beat them all up. Reigns takes Kane down with a chair but Kane makes the save. I think Ryback is busted a bit. Bryan kicks Reigns in the corner and the fans are WAY into Danny boy. Reigns is thrown into a ladder which gets two for Kane. Bryan saves Ryback and the fans want tables. Rollins jumps into a Kane uppercut for two before getting put inside a ladder. Kane beats on the ladder with a chair for a bit but Ambrose takes Kane out with a DDT onto the chair.

Ryback rams Rollins and Ambrose into the corner and there’s another Goldberg chant. The fans still want tables. Ryback blocks a beal into the ladder in the corner and pounds Ambrose and Rollins down again. A splash crushes both of them against the ladder, followed by a suplex from Ryback to put both of them on the ladder. Reigns breaks up the double Shell Shock and it’s another three on one beating. Where did HELL NO go?

Shield loads up the triple powerbomb….and it actually works. Seriously, no save from the champions until a few seconds later. Bryan goes off on everyone but gets caught in the numbers game. Kane finally comes back but gets beaten down as well. Back into the ring and it’s time for the chairs portion of the match. Bryan gets beaten down before being double superplexed off a table on the top. Kane barely makes a save but he gets beaten down by the chair as well.

Ambrose and Rollins try the double superplex on Kane as well but he shoves Rollins to the floor and clotheslines Ambrose down. The side slam puts Reigns down but Dean makes the save. Instead of I think a DDT on Kane though, it’s a chokeslam for Dean through the chair for two. Back to the floor and Reigns spears Kane through the barricade to a BIG reaction. Kane gets buried under a bunch of stuff, but in the chaos, Bryan grabs the NO Lock on Ambrose. He eventually gets it on all three guys but the numbers catch up to him.

Bryan fights back AGAIN with a bunch of kicks but eventually he falls prey to the Blackout (running curb stomp) onto the EDGE OF THE CHAIR from Rollins. FREAKING OW MAN!!! Ryback is up though and house is cleaned. Rollins is thrown onto Ambrose and it’s chair time for Reigns. Ambrose comes back AGAIN but gets speared down. There’s a Meat Hook for Dean followed by Shell Shock for two as Rollins saves. Ryback goes to the floor but gets caught by some chair shots. Ryback charges at Reigns to tackle into whatever is in his path in a cool visual.

The Shield and Ryback are all up by the entrance and Ambrose chairs him in the back to take him down again. They shove a ladder onto Ryback and destroy him with some chair shots and put him on a table. There’s a HUGE, as in bigger than the usual HUGE ladders, and Rollins climbs up. Ryback fights up though and Rollins is in trouble. Ryback throws Seth through a big stack of tables, but Ambrose and Reigns are double teaming Bryan in the ring. Reigns superbombs Bryan through the table for the pin at 22:55.

Rating: A. AWESOME brawl here with a great story being told throughout. Ryback gets two do the big spot to look strong and the Shield’s pack mentality worked very well too. Great match here and definitely better than I was expecting. Shield looked like they could more than hang in there, and that was the main thing they had to worry about. Great stuff.

HELL NO and Shield would feud for the rest of the spring, culminating with Shield taking the Tag Team Titles at Extreme Rules. After breaking up, Daniel went on a rampage to prove that he wasn’t the weak link in the team. This run went so well that Bryan was named #1 contender to the WWE Championship for a match at Summerslam. He ran a gauntlet on Raw on July 22, 2013 to prove his worth.

Daniel Bryan vs. Jack Swagger

This is the first of an undetermined amount of matches for Bryan. Colter says that Stephen F. Austin isn’t the father of this country as he didn’t fight for the right to allow people to chant YES. Bryan isn’t a Real American because he took a handout last week from John Cena and tonight he gets to face a Real American in Swagger. Bryan gets a quick rollup for one but Swagger takes out his leg to put him down.

Swagger pounds on him in the corner but walks into a dropkick to send him to the floor. The FLYING GOAT is countered with a forearm to the face and Swagger drops the Vader Bomb for two. He loads up the Patriot Lock but gets caught in the YES Lock for the first submission at 2:57.

Antonio Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan

This is joined in progress after a break with Cesaro holding Bryan in an armbar. Lawler tells us we need to download the App so we can see action like he’s showing us right now. Cesaro whips Bryan into the corner for two and puts on the standing chinlock. Bryan takes him down and hits the double leg stomp out of the surfboard. Cesaro comes back with a pure power suplex and another hard chinlock but Bryan easily fights up and hits the running clothesline followed by the kicks to the chest. A running dropkick in the corner gets two on Cesaro but Swagger shoves Bryan off the top into the uppercut for two.

Back from a break with Cesaro getting two off the gutwrench suplex. A kind of Death Valley Driver gets two but Bryan comes back with a hard kick to the head for two of his own. Cesaro takes him to the corner for a superplex but gets forearmed and kneed down, only to have Cesaro come back with a top rope superplex attempt. Bryan slips through his legs and gets Cesaro in the Tree of Woe for a bunch of kicks, capped off by the delayed running dropkick to the face.

A belly to back superplex is countered into a crossbody to give Antonio two as this is getting really good. Back up and Cesaro DESTROYS Bryan with about 25 uppercuts in a row followed by a huge clothesline for two. Bryan backdrops out of the Neutralizer and starts firing off forearms before putting on a leg lock and pounding away with driving forearms to the face. Cesaro is sent to the floor and the FLYING GOAT takes out the Real Americans. Back in and Cesaro tries to throw Bryan in the air for the uppercut but Bryan comes down into a small package for the pin at approximately 15:00 shown.

Rating: A-. Someone explain to me why Cesaro isn’t one of the three top heels in this company right now. He could EASILY being in Del Rio’s spot and blowing away everything he does. Both guys looked great here and this is probably a match of the year candidate. Great stuff and I want more Cesaro right now.

Maddox is in the back with Alex Riley next to him of all people. Bryan has a third opponent after the break.

Daniel Bryan vs. Ryback

Bryan goes right for Ryback’s bad leg but Ryback easily knocks him down. Ryback shouts that Bryan is a little man in a big man’s world and chokes him him with a boot. The stupid fans chant that Ryback can’t wrestle so Ryback suplexes Bryan down for two. We hit a quick chinlock with Ryback shouting that this is too easy. Ryback’s Thesz press is countered into a wicked looking half crab but he’s right in front of the ropes. A splash gets two for Ryback but the Meathook is blocked by a knee to the chest.

Bryan hits some corner dropkicks but Ryback clotheslines him down for two. Ryback heads to the floor to set up a table but Bryan comes flying through the ropes to send Ryback into the announce table with a thud. Ryback sends him into the steps and gets back in, only to have Bryan fire off the kicks. The YES Lock is countered by a throw but Bryan drop toeholds him into the buckle. A missile dropkick gets two and there’s the YES Lock but Ryback finally makes the ropes. Ryback heads to the floor but catches Bryan coming off the apron in a powerbomb. Another powerbomb through the table is good for a DQ at 9:10.

Rating: B-. This was a great David vs. Goliath match and I like that they didn’t make Ryback lose clan here. Bryan beating the Real Americans is fine but having him win against a fresh monster after nearly half an hour in the ring is too much of a stretch. This worked very well though as Ryback can still be a monster when he isn’t a whiny jerk.

And of course, Bryan’s title shot at Summerslam less than a month later.

Raw World Title: Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena

The fans are almost unanimously behind Bryan here. Cena has a very bad elbow injury coming in and has been out of action for a few weeks. Feeling out process to start with Cena taking him to the mat via a headlock. Bryan easily gets back to his feet and tries a test of strength of all things with Cena taking him down to the mat. He can’t break Bryan’s bridge though and Bryan monkey flips him down. The YES Lock doesn’t work as Cena bails to the floor.

Back in and Cena tries a left arm (the bad arm) headlock but Bryan takes him down again. The double knee stomp surfboard doesn’t work as Cena kicks Bryan away. Daniel goes to the apron and is knocked HARD into the announce table. Cena follows him to the floor but gets whipped into the steps. Bryan tries a suplex off the steps in a spot I’ve never seen before but Cena counters into one of his own to put both guys down. Fans: “YOU STILL SUCK!”

Cena wisely turns it into a brawl and punches Bryan down before hitting a Batista Bomb of all things. We hit the chinlock and HHH hasn’t been a factor yet. Bryan comes back with forearms to the head and kicks to the chest in the corner but HHH yells at him. Lawler: “Don’t gloat goat!” Bryan hits the running clothesline but misses the hard kick to the head. Cena tries his finishing sequence but Bryan kicks him in the head to block the Shuffle. Bryan can’t hook a submission hold and gets caught in the ProtoBomb followed by the Shuffle for no cover.

Bryan flips out of the AA and catches a charging Cena in the chin with a boot. The missile dropkick connects for two and Bryan fires off the kicks to the chest. Now Bryan goes after the bad arm before slapping on the STF of all things. Cena is about to get to the ropes so Bryan pulls him back and hits two German suplexes for two each. Bryan counters the AA into the YES Lock and Cena is in big trouble. Cena counters by getting his head free (wrestling you say?) but gets pulled down into a guillotine choke.

John FINALLY powers out of it but can barely follow up. Bryan charges right at Cena but gets caught in the AA for a close two. That came out of nowhere and had the fans inhaling in unison. Cena goes up but has to knock Bryan down twice before getting caught by a running dropkick. Now Bryan gets up top and superplexes Cena down but stays on top in a cool power move. He sits up onto the top for the Swan Dive but Cena is up at two. John rolls to the floor and blocks the FLYING GOAT with a forearm to the head.

This time the top rope Fameasser connects for two and Cena is getting frustrated. Cena tries the middle rope AA but Bryan fires off about 25 elbows to the head to break it up. Bryan can’t hit a top rope rana so Cena loads up what looks like a Styles Clash but jumps down and drops Bryan o his head in a SCARY looking botch. Bryan looks ok though and Cena rolls into the STF. Bryan rolls over to his side but the hold is still on, basically making it a chinlock with a body scissors.

Daniel rolls out and hooks the YES Lock in the middle of the ring. Cena crawls over (with his arm slapping the mat in what could have been a tap if you stretched a bit) and FINALLY makes a rope. Bryan hits the running dropkick in the corner and makes it a pair for good measure. Cena comes back with a MASSIVE clothesline but he can’t follow up. They slug it out and both hit shoulders at the same time for another double layout.

Now they slap each other out in the middle of the ring and it’s Bryan taking over and moonsaulting out of the corner, but Cena nearly catches him in mid air. He tries a spinebuster but Bryan counters into a DDT and a lot of checking on each other. Bryan tries a high cross (popular move tonight) but Cena catches him in mid air. Bryan counters into the small package they’ve been building up for weeks but it’s only good for two in a GREAT false finish. The big kick to Cena’s head puts the champion down again and a Shining Freaking Wizard GETS THE PIN AND THE TITLE AT 26:58!

Rating: A+. WHAT A BRILLIANT FINISH! They totally fooled us all by having the standard WWE formula playing out but Bryan wins it out of nowhere with a knee to the head. Brilliant move there after a great match to boot. What more can you ask for in the main event of the second biggest show of the year? Excellent stuff and HHH did absolutely nothing at all.

As soon as the match was over, HHH gave Daniel Bryan a Pedigree, allowing Randy Orton to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase for the WWE Championship. This started a six month war between HHH and Bryan with HHH saying Bryan wasn’t good enough to be the WWE Champion and the face of the company. The fans rallied behind Bryan, leading to an Occupy Raw movement. HHH was angry enough that he agreed to a match with Bryan at Wrestlemania XXX, where the winner would be entered into the triple threat title match to end the show.

HHH vs. Daniel Bryan

The winner goes into the triple threat later tonight. Cole says this should be a mismatch, even though Bryan is a Triple Crown winner and a three time World Champion. The YES chant was awesome in person and the place went absolutely nuts when Bryan’s music hit. Oddly enough he wasn’t announced at all and just came to the ring with his music. No Big Match Intros either. Bryan’s left shoulder is taped up after the attack a few weeks ago on Raw.

They stare each other down for a good while to start as a bunch of fans have YES written on pieces of paper. HHH offers a handshake and is quickly kicked down for two. Daniel fires off more kicks in the corner but HHH bails to the floor to avoid a big kick. Back in and HHH goes for the bad arm like a smart wrestler would but Bryan takes him down with a headlock takeover. A hard shoulder block drops Daniel but it’s right back to the headlock.

HHH drives shoulders in the corner but Daniel comes back with his kicks, only to have HHH take him down by the leg in a nice counter. Bryan gets away before HHH can wrap the arm around the post and hits a running tornado DDT off the apron. The running knee off the apron puts both guys down as Stephanie is freaking out. Back in and Bryan goes up but gets crotched. Stephanie: “B+ AT BEST!”

A big right hand knocks Bryan out to the floor and it’s table time. Bryan fights out of a Pedigree attempt through the table but gets his arm slammed into the table. Stephanie: “YES! YES! YES!” Bryan is back in the ring at seven and HHH drives knees into the shoulder. We hit the armbar for a bit but Bryan is able to backdrop HHH to the floor. HHH is able to get up and block the FLYING GOAT with a big right hand, which looked like a slegehammer shot on the big screen.

HHH gets him back to the apron and drops him arm first onto the apron. Stephanie is still yelling at Bryan as she’s just perfect in this role. Back in and we go old school with a crossface chickenwing on the bad arm. HHH shifts into a regular Crossface and the fans aren’t sure what to think of it. Daniel makes the rope and they slug it out until Bryan drops him with a running forearm. Bryan loads up the moonsault but HHH wisely stops and tries a German, only to be reversed into three straight German suplexes for three straight near falls.

The Game counters another into a chickenwing attempt but HHH reverses into a tiger suplex of all things, putting Bryan down on his shoulder again. HHH’s superplex attempt is countered into a sunset bomb but Bryan can’t cover. The running dropkick in the corner has HHH in trouble but he comes out of the corner with a wicked clothesline. Stephanie: “YES! WOO!”

The Pedigree is countered into a rollup for two and a big kick to the head drops HHH again. Bryan loads up the flying headbutt, only to dive head first into a knee. Back to the Crossface and HHH rolls Bryan away from the ropes ala Benoit in 2004. Daniel is able to counter into the YES Lock out of nowhere but HHH gets a rope. HHH rolls outside and it’s the FLYING GOAT to send him into the barricade.

Bryan hits it again before firing off the YES Kicks to the chest. Back in and there’s the missile dropkick into the nipup followed by more YES Kicks. JBL: “Something isn’t right about this!” The big kick to the head gets two as the fans think this is awesome. Daniel loads up the running knee but is caught in a spinebuster. The Pedigree gets two and Stephanie is shocked.

A small package gets two on HHH so he hammers away in the corner with some heavy right hands. Another Pedigree is countered with a backdrop for two but HHH holds on to the grip. Bryan won’t get up though so HHH drives knees into the shoulder. HHH still can’t hit the Pedigree so Bryan kicks him in the face. With both guys spent, Daniel backflips out of a suplex and nails the running knee dead on to send himself to the main event at 25:58.

Rating: A. Oh yeah this was awesome. They played the underdog card perfectly and the fans ate it up with a spoon. I’m surprised they went with the clean pin instead of the fourway but that’s the better move at the end of the day. It’s definitive and clean with Bryan beating HHH in a fair match despite being injured coming in. Outstanding opener, even if most people knew Bryan was going to the title match anyway.

Post match Stephanie slaps Bryan until HHH gets back up and lays him out. HHH crushes the shoulder against the post with a chair again to leave Bryan’s future in doubt.

And now the triple threat.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan

Rev Theory plays the champion Orton to the ring. The song goes on too long though as they play the full thing. Batista is LOUDLY booed whereas Bryan gets the hero pop, even though he can only YES with one arm. An interesting note: Cole hypes up Extreme Rules as a “WWE Special” rather than a pay per view, which is a good way to advertise it on the Network. Any time you can get the word “pay” out of something it sounds more enticing. After the Big Match Intros we’re ready to go.

Batista runs Orton over to start but can’t hit the Bomb on Bryan. Orton and Bryan are both thrown outside with Bryan being sent into the barricade arm first. Batista loads up a powerbomb onto the steps but Orton counters into a backdrop to get a breather. Bryan starts to get up but Orton drops him back first onto the barricade to stop him again. It’s Dave vs. Randy in the ring again with Randy hitting the circle stomp followed by the knee drop for two.

Daniel comes back in with a double missile dropkick but Batista slams both guys down for two each. Bryan is able to send Batista into the buckle and hits a string of running dropkicks in the corner to both guys. A top rope hurricanrana takes the champion down again but Batista suplexes Daniel over the top and out to the floor. Now Batista goes up top but Orton pulls him down with a superplex. Bryan is back in again and nails the swan dive to set up the YES Lock, but HHH and Stephanie come in from the crowd to pull out the referee.

Batista hits the spinebuster as Scott Armstrong comes in to be referee. Cole calls him crooked, but wasn’t he crooked before in Bryan’s favor? So the story is HHH had Armstrong do a fast count on Bryan at Night of Champions so the pin wouldn’t count? Was that ever established on WWE TV? Anyway he counts two after a Batista Bomb to Bryan and Batista charges into the post. Bryan kicks Armstrong in the head and nails the FLYING GOAT to take out the Authority and Armstrong.

HHH is livid and pulls out the sledgehammer but Bryan steals it and lays out the Game. The original referee counts two as Bryan rolls up Batista but Orton is back in for the save. Bryan’s arm is exposed as the opponents start double teaming. HHH and Stephanie are helped out (cue Goodbye Song) as Orton bounces the steps off Bryan’s head. Batista and Randy pick up Bryan and load up the announce table. The fans chant for CM Punk out of desparation (this happened throughout the night but never became a big thing).

In the spot of the night, Batista lifts up Bryan for a Batista Bomb and Orton hits the RKO (neckbreaker but whatever) to lay Bryan out cold. The scary part though was Orton who landed square on a monitor. I was genuinely scared he wasn’t going to get up at all. A stretcher is brought out for Bryan as Lawler asks a very good question: why is Batista not throwing someone in the ring and trying to pin them? That’s a problem in wrestling today. So many people just stop using logic because it’s not the planned finish. As soon as Orton could indicate that he was ok, Batista should have tried to pin him.

Instead he just whips Orton into the barricade about five times in a row to lose what they had of the crowd. Orton comes back with the Elevated DDT onto the floor but Bryan is off the stretcher and literally crawling back to the ring. An RKO is countered into a YES Lock but Batista makes the save.

The spear misses Orton and sends Bryan to the floor, setting up an RKO on Batista for a VERY close two. Orton loads up the Punt but Bryan takes his head off with the knee. Batista steals the cover for two and nails the Batista Bomb on Orton, but Bryan takes him down with the running knee, setting up the YES Lock on Batista for the submission and the title to blow the roof off the place at 23:01.

Rating: A-. It’s long and there are some parts that dragged but this was all about making the impossible happen and they nailed that to perfection. Everything else is a bonus and they actually had me thinking Orton would retain with that RKO. It was all about Daniel Bryan though and that’s exactly what it needed to be. Excellent match and it gave us the moment we were looking for.

A HUGE celebration follows with fireworks, confetti (I snagged a piece for a souvenir) and Bryan’s sister and niece coming in to celebrate with him. The celebration went on for awhile after the show went off the air with nothing you wouldn’t expect.

Daniel Bryan is living proof that wrestling ability and charisma can get someone to the top of the wrestling world. He’s been around far longer than most people realize and has risen to the top of whatever company he’s been in. I was skeptical when he signed with WWE but he’s done incredibly well and become one of the most entertaining guys on the roster. When you get a Wrestlemania centered around you, you’re clearly doing something right.

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